The Kekava bypass is part of the Riga-Bauska-Lithuanian border (A7) highway and the E67 Via Baltica international highway (Helsinki-Tallinn-Riga-Paneveža-Kauņa-Warsaw-Prague). The capital of Latvia, Riga, is connected conveniently and quickly to other European countries, including Lithuania and Estonia. The Ķekava bypass is included in the TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) program, which is designed to improve mobility, reduce environmental impact, and ensure the expansion of European transportation networks.

Currently, the Riga-Kekava section of the Bauska highway (A7) has an average traffic density of 17,000 vehicles daily, making it one of Latvia’s busiest roads. It is possible that, in some cases, the number of cars exceeds more than 25,000. Besides improving transit and intercity traffic, the newly constructed bypass will also improve safety on the roads.

The Kekava bypass is the first large-scale public-private sector (PPP) cooperation in road construction in the Baltics. As a public-private partnership, the project is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia, which is represented by VSIA Latvijas Valsts ceļi as a public partner and JSC Ķekava ABT as a private partner. As one of JSC Ķekava ABT’s largest artificial structure subcontractors, LNK Industries performs concrete work on the gear edge supports and the upper part of the transition plates. LNK Industries is responsible for four key infrastructure objects in the Kekava bypass project. The company’s team built overpasses of 70 and 80 meters in length.

Because the bypass road is in a swampy area, temporary roads were built to facilitate traffic flow. It was also necessary to respond quickly to weather changes during construction. It was also challenging to organize the work for the concreting of two overpasses – 930 m3 required a whole day of intensive work, and 803 m3 took 20 hours without interruption. Bypasses and overpasses were designed with visual performance and environmental aesthetics in mind. As a result, concrete structures were built with niches for artificial lighting.

As soon as the floor concreting was complete, culverts were installed and slopes – mounted. LNK Industries was responsible for building two culverts on kilometres 21 and 22. This bypass project is unique because it has curves and only a few straight angles. LNK Industries changed the direction of the water flow and replaced the unstable soil to build the culverts.

JSC Ķekava ABT will provide maintenance of the new bypass and its infrastructure elements for 20 years after its completion. Additionally, the company will guarantee that the Kekava bypass will be maintained in a condition that only requires daily maintenance after the PPP contract ends.