The bid for the design & build contract for lot 1 was launched by CNADNR during December 2010. The contract included also the first segment of the A6 motorway (11.4 km) that is branching off from the A1 motorway near the village of Balinț and connecting the city of Lugoj. The Șanovița – Dumbrava segment (27.4 km) was awarded to a joint venture composed of Italian companies Tirrena Scavi, Societa Italiana per Condotte D'Acqua and Cossi Construzioni in May 2011, after an appeal from one of the bid participants. Construction works on lot 1 have started in October 2011 and were planned to finish in April 2013. After several delays, the segment was eventually opened during December 2013, but only between the junction with the A6 motorway and Dumbrava. As of July 2015 the remaining part of lot 1 was still not usable, as the next segment containing an exit (Timișoara – Lugoj lot 2) was not opened for traffic. The idea of building a temporary exit at the western end of the segment near Șanovița was discussed but never implemented. Another option discussed, considering that Timișoara – Lugoj lot 2 was awarded to the same joint venture of companies was a partial opening from Șanovița to Topolovățu Mare interchange with DJ572 (6.02 km), but this was not pursued either.