ARCADIS (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading pure play global engineering and consultancy firm, today announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide project and program management, as well as technical advisory services to the Société du Grand Paris, the authority for the ambitious "Grand Paris Express" metro lines in the Paris region in France. This 16 year contract represents a total value to ARCADIS of €40 million. Further financial details were not disclosed.

The Grand Paris Express project is over 200 kilometers in length of new metro lines and will mainly be realized underground. The contract awarded to ARCADIS is referred to as the 100 kilometers of "red line" and will connect the suburbs around Paris, which are now connected through the center of the city, thus putting pressure on existing commuter systems. The construction cost estimate for the total project is over €20 billion. It will be delivered in the next 16 years.

The Grand Paris Scheme includes above and underground transportation, stations, building and social infrastructure projects to enhance the economic dynamism in the Paris region. The "red line" is one of the first major investments in this scheme and ARCADIS will be involved in all project and program management services including contract, cost, risk, and time management, environmental procedures, technical advisory including tunnels, underground stations, and mobility, and in the interfaces with other parts of the Parisian transportation system.

Friedrich Schneider, Executive Board member responsible for the European activities of ARCADIS on the project: "Our extensive capabilities in project and program management, broad expertise in underground metro systems and our ability to take an integrated view to projects positioned us well for this challenge. Together with our project partners ARTELIA and BG, we have convinced the Société du Grand Paris we are the right team. We are proud to be at the beginning of a long journey of raising public transportation in Paris to the next level with the Grand Paris Scheme."