A collaboration between Ivory Coast contractor PFO Africa and Belgian construction group Besix has begun work on the Abobo Town Hall roundabout in Abidjan.

Besix will design and build the 15,000-sq-m roundabout, which will include a central square and a 560m cut-and-cover tunnel for the six-lane A1 national road.

The project, which is being supervised by the Ivorian Ministry of Public Works, is expected to be a “game changer” for Abobo, a district in northern Abidjan with a population of over 1 million.

The project will upgrade several important roads, including those linking the economic capital of Ivory Coast to the east and northeast of the country, and will also upgrade and pave some 15km of surrounding streets.

Philippe Dessoy, Besix’s general manager for business development, commented: “The construction of the Abobo tunnel confirms our strong presence in Ivory Coast and the quality of our partnership with PFO Africa.

“Together, we have built one of the largest drinking water treatment plants in West Africa, in La Mé, and have begun work on the Exhibition Centre and the F Tower, which will be the tallest tower on the African continent. The Abobo site allows us to introduce one of Besix’s other major areas of expertise, infrastructure, to Ivory Coast.”

Besix estimates that the construction of the tunnel will require the excavation of 130,000 cubic metres of trench, the placing of 4,000 tonnes of reinforcement and the pouring of 23,000 cubic metres of structural concrete.