UK widening contract awarded to

A joint venture formed of 1146 Balfour Beatty and 2435 Carillion has won the tender process for a €401 million (£292 million) road widening package in the UK. The joint venture will commence with preparatory works worth €686,680 (£500,000) initially as the main contract is subject to approval of the wider A14 improvement scheme. The aim of the joint venture’s work is to upgrade the A14 between Swavesey and Milton. This forms part of the wider A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon road improvement scheme. The joint venture is a 50:50 partnership between the two firms and will handle the construction package to widen a critical and complex 16km stretch of the existing A14. Works, which will take place in a live-traffic environment, will include the widening of existing road sections between Swavesey to Girton, including the Girton Junction with the M11 Motorway and the Cambridge Northern Bypass. The project will also require major junction rebuilds and numerous services diversions.  

The wider Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, for which the UK Government has pledged €2.06 billion (£1.5 billion), is subject to approval and only then will the joint venture have the go ahead for the 16km widening job. The scheme will be delivered through an integrated delivery team comprising of a number of contractor joint ventures, designers and 8100 Highways England employees.  The Balfour Beatty Carillion joint venture is the second construction joint venture to be appointed and will work collaboratively with all parties to input to the detailed design and pre-construction planning.

Main construction work is due to start in late 2016 with the new bypass and widened A14 due to open to traffic in 2020. Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group chief executive said, “The improvements the scheme will deliver will help to relieve congestion on one of the busiest parts of the strategic road network between the Midlands and East Anglia and support national and regional economic growth.”