RSSThe competitive dialogue phase of the Mersey Gateway Project has begun.
The project team are said to have held initial meetings with the three shortlisted bidding consortia, and will be working closely with each of them over the coming months.
The aim is for each of the three bidders to submit their detailed proposals by the end of 2012, with an announcement about a preferred bidder likely to come in spring 2013.
The value of the construction phase of the project, including land, is estimated at US$961million.
Councillor Rob Polhill, Leader of Halton Borough Council, said: “The rest of this year will be critical in shaping the final detail of the bidders’ proposals, and we will be working closely with each bidding group to ensure that we are able to maintain quality on this project whilst continuing to deliver value for money for the public purse.”
Steve Nicholson, Mersey Gateway Project (MGP) director, said: “The quality of the initial submissions was excellent, and I am looking forward to working with each of the bidding groups to enable them to pull together their detailed proposals.”
Last month Halton Borough Council announced the identities of the three shortlisted bidders. They are:
1146 Balfour Beatty, 979 Bouygues Travaux Publics, 2376 EGIS Projects consortium, comprising equity members Balfour Beatty plc, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Egis Projects.
Merseylink consortium, comprising equity members2378 Macquarie Capital Group Limited, 2516 Bilfinger and Berger Project Investments Limited, Vialia Sociedad Gestora de Concesiones de Infraestructuras S.L. and 1340 FCC Construcción S.A.
MGL consortium, comprising equity members3932 Galliford Try Investments Limited, 981 Hochtief PPP Solutions GmbH and 3933 Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras S.A.
The centrepiece of the MGP is a new six-lane toll bridge over the Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes.
In addition to speeding up journey times and improving journey reliability in the region, it is intended to act as a catalyst for investment and bring benefits over four times greater than the investment cost.
The benefits are predicted to include the creation of an estimated 4,640 new jobs through direct employment, regeneration activity and inward investment, and the generation of a conservative estimate of $99million a year in Gross Value Added from the new jobs by 2030.
The existing Silver Jubilee Bridge will also be tolled as part of the project.
It is anticipated that construction work will start within two years, and that the new bridge will take around three years to complete.
As well as the income from tolls, the5432 Department for Transport will provide $138million in capital grant towards land and remediation and up to $23.3million per year in long-term revenue support for 26.5 years from opening to fund the scheme.
The project team are said to have held initial meetings with the three shortlisted bidding consortia, and will be working closely with each of them over the coming months.
The aim is for each of the three bidders to submit their detailed proposals by the end of 2012, with an announcement about a preferred bidder likely to come in spring 2013.
The value of the construction phase of the project, including land, is estimated at US$961million.
Councillor Rob Polhill, Leader of Halton Borough Council, said: “The rest of this year will be critical in shaping the final detail of the bidders’ proposals, and we will be working closely with each bidding group to ensure that we are able to maintain quality on this project whilst continuing to deliver value for money for the public purse.”
Steve Nicholson, Mersey Gateway Project (MGP) director, said: “The quality of the initial submissions was excellent, and I am looking forward to working with each of the bidding groups to enable them to pull together their detailed proposals.”
Last month Halton Borough Council announced the identities of the three shortlisted bidders. They are:
Merseylink consortium, comprising equity members
MGL consortium, comprising equity members
The centrepiece of the MGP is a new six-lane toll bridge over the Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes.
In addition to speeding up journey times and improving journey reliability in the region, it is intended to act as a catalyst for investment and bring benefits over four times greater than the investment cost.
The benefits are predicted to include the creation of an estimated 4,640 new jobs through direct employment, regeneration activity and inward investment, and the generation of a conservative estimate of $99million a year in Gross Value Added from the new jobs by 2030.
The existing Silver Jubilee Bridge will also be tolled as part of the project.
It is anticipated that construction work will start within two years, and that the new bridge will take around three years to complete.
As well as the income from tolls, the
