The International Road Federation (IRF) has recognized the Bechtel-ENKA Joint Venture with the Global Road Achievement Award for its environmental stewardship on the Morava Corridor Motorway project located in Serbia. This distinguished award showcases Bechtel-ENKA’s strong commitment to meeting and exceeding national and international conservation and environmental regulations. Entrants in this category were evaluated on successful efforts to incorporate environmental mitigation on a specific road project.
Pictured left to right: Bill Halkias (IRF Former Past-President), Inci Saribas ENKA), Aleksandar Antic (Former Minister of Transportation of Serbia) Dimitrios Mandalozis (IRF President), Shawn MacCormack (Bechtel),Hamdi Aydin (IRF Treasurer).
As Serbia’s only road infrastructure of this scale, the project has a significant number of structures crossing highways, railways, and the Morava River — an area known for its wide floodplain. To address flooding concerns, the motorway includes extensive flood protection measures, river diversions, dikes, and construction of a new riverbed — put in place to protect and support the surrounding local environment and strengthen the infrastructure’s resilience to extreme weather conditions.
Additional hydro-technical solutions help enhance water flow management, including 236 km of drainage systems — equipped with 202 oil separators — designed and installed to improve water runoff quality. Robust environmental safeguards also include 492 km of guardrails and 232 km of wire fencing, ensuring passenger safety and protecting local wildlife.
“The IRF is a global leader in sustainable road development, and we are honored to receive this award, which recognizes our commitment to the environment. Our goal is to deliver infrastructure mega-projects that incorporate flood protection measures and prevent habitat destruction, species displacement, and ecosystem alteration,” said Shawn MacCormack, Project Director for the Morava Corridor Motorway. “Our strong partnership with Koridori Srbije, the Government of Serbia and Serbia’s Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure has ensured that this motorway aligns with the highest standards of ecological preservation and sustainability.”
“We are delighted to recognize Bechtel-ENKA’s work on the Morava Corridor Motorway by naming this project the winner of the IRF 2024 Award for Environmental Stewardship,” said Susanna Zammataro, IRF Director General. “We commend the Bechtel-ENKA team for their inspiring work.”
The Morava Corridor Motorway is a 112-km dual carriageway designed for speeds of up to 130 km/h. Running along the West Morava River valley, it connects central Serbia strategically with Pan-European Corridors 10 and 11, facilitating access to Bosnia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The motorway features 12 interchanges, 79 bridges, 27 overpasses, 11 underpasses, 140 culverts, 37 km of river regulation, and 28 km of dikes.
The project also builds on Bechtel-ENKA’s commitment to supporting local communities and economies. Most of the subcontractors and suppliers come from local companies and almost half of the 3,700 project employees are Serbian. When completed, the motorway will improve connectivity, economic growth, communication, and sustainability efforts in the region.
About ENKA
Founded in 1957, ENKA İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş. (ENKA) is a leading global engineering and construction company based in İstanbul, Türkiye. With its subsidiaries, ENKA provides services in the sectors including Engineering and Construction (including Fabrication); Power Generation; Real Estate Management; Trade (including Software Development).
Over the past 67 years, ENKA has fully maintained its strong competitive position in both international and local markets in every sector in which it operates while simultaneously putting into practice its vision of “stable and determined growth through value creation with stakeholders.” All over the world, ENKA projects are contributing to higher living standards and a safer, greener, fairer future.
ENKA with its subsidiaries has become the trusted partners of public and private sectors on six continents, helping them implement a great number of projects from initial planning through to start-up and operations, and serving a range of markets through four global business units: Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals; Power Plants; Infrastructure; and Building Works. www.enka.com
