Infrastructure

Rehabilitating critical bridge infrastructure in the United States

Bridging Pennsylvania Partners, a joint venture consortium co-led by Macquarie Capital, will finance, build and maintain six interstate bridges across Pennsylvania

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Sector	Infrastructure
Sub-sector	Transport
Location	Americas

Opportunity

In November 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) launched the Major Bridge Public-Private Partnership (PPP or P3) Program to accelerate the replacement and rehabilitation of nine major interstate bridges across the state.

The project comprises the design, build, financing and maintenance of key bridges in need of near-term attention before incurring major maintenance costs, disruptive weight restrictions or bridge closures. The project also includes related roadway and supporting infrastructure that is essential to Pennsylvania’s intra- and interstate transportation system.

Approach

Macquarie Capital and S&B USA Concessions (S&B) formed a joint venture consortium called Bridging Pennsylvania Partners (BPP).

BPP combines Macquarie’s financing capabilities and infrastructure development experience with S&B’s design and construction expertise.

In March 2022, BPP was selected as Apparent Best Value Proposer to administer the Major Bridge P3 Program under a pre-development agreement. BPP and PennDOT worked together throughout 2022 to develop the first package of the Major Bridge P3 Program, containing three fracture critical bridges and a total of six major interstate bridges, reaching financial close in December 2022. BPP, through a project company special purpose vehicle, Bridging Pennsylvania Developer I (BDP-I), expects to commence construction in summer 2023 with construction expected to be completed in 2028. While BDP-I and contractors continue to progress work on the first package, BPP will advance pre-development work on the remaining three bridges within the Major Bridge P3 Program, to be delivered in subsequent packages.

Outcome

BPP’s P3 delivery model will allow PennDOT to deliver critical infrastructure assets quickly and efficiently.

This approach ensures continued public access to safe roadways and helps avoid delays and financial impacts of travel diversion resulting from bridge restrictions and closures due to bridge conditions. BPP has also committed to the maintenance of the assets for 35 years after construction, ensuring that they remain in good condition for many years. The project will have a direct positive impact on Pennsylvania’s local economy, with the vast majority of work being delivered by local suppliers and contractors.

The financial close of the first package represents one of the largest availability payment P3s in the US and is the largest P3 project in Pennsylvania to date. Moreover, this transaction also represents one of the quickest deliveries of a pre-development agreement procurement, which was achieved under a compressed seven-month period from signing to financial close. This landmark transaction will serve as the blueprint for the second package and subsequent US availability payment P3 projects to come.