Nova Scotia’s Highway 104 twinning project reaches substantial completion

Photo courtesy DNA.

The $364.3-million twinning of Nova Scotia’s Highway 104, from Sutherlands River to Antigonish, has reached substantial completion, providing a safer drive for motorists on one of the province’s key roadways. WSP led design engineering for the expansion.

“We provided the detailed design for most aspects of the project,” says Dominique Quesnel, WSP’s vice-president (VP) of bridges, highways and roads for Ontario and Atlantic Canada. “A local team in Nova Scotia that understood the needs of motorists using the highway corridor and how it would impact the surrounding environment helped us provide smart, innovative solutions. It truly was a team effort.”

The project aimed to improve the highway network in the Cape Breton to New Brunswick border corridor (see map, below). It includes 10 km of new four-lane highway, 28 km of twinned highway, two new interchanges, 24 new bridges and environmental improvements, including wildlife corridors and fencing. Construction began in 2020.

Dexter Nova Alliance (DNA) joined a public-private partnership (P3) for procurement and implemented a design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) alternative project delivery model. The consortium—which includes Dexter Construction, Nova Construction, Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure (BBGI) and Municipal Enterprises—will be responsible for the highway’s operations and maintenance (O&M) for the next 20 years.

Map courtesy DNA.