The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it will provide financing of €123 million, covered by an EU guarantee, towards the Bizerte bridge project in Tunisia.

The funding will supplement a €122 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB), EIB said in a press statement.

The project involves construction of a 2.07-km long and 56-metres high bridge at a total investment of around €250 million (750 million Tunisian dinars).

The construction contract was awarded to the Sichuan Road and Bridge Group (SRBG) following an international call for tenders, at a cost of TND 610 million, accounting for 79 percent of the total investment.

The works comprise three phases: creation of a southbound link via a 4.5 km motorway, construction of the main bridge, and construction of a northbound link and a 2.5 km motorway.

The signing of the construction contract marks the start of the work, with an estimated construction period of 38 months for the bridge and 27 months for the roads and associated interchanges, the statement said.

This new structure will move traffic out of the Bizerte city centre and ease transit via the mobile bridge, which is currently used by more than 44 000 vehicles per day. In addition to improving traffic flow, the project will support the region’s economic activity by facilitating access to the port of Bizerte and fostering local development.

An EU grant of around €3 million had supported the feasibility studies and the design phase of the project.