As tipped by the Enquirer late last year the duo will build a 100m long pedestrian link tunnel at Paddington from the new Crossrail station to London Underground’s Bakerloo Line station.
It ranks as the eighth contract win on the Crossrail project for the duo, which are now looking for a repeat performance on the first phase of HS2 where they will also jointly bid.
The contract to build the Paddington link tunnel is worth £40m and follows an innovative procurement process set by LU, which was successfully used on the Bank Station Upgrade contract signed in 2013.
The procurement process, known as the Innovative Contractor Engagement (ICE) model, assesses the bids made by contractors for the value that their proposal adds to the project.
Initially the scheme was costed at around £50m but has come in 20% cheaper through the tender process.
The winning bid will enhance the value of the Bakerloo line link by 25%, mainly through reducing passenger journey times compared with initial designs, and it will help to reduce the level of disruption caused to customers while the link is built.
David Waboso, LU’s Director of Capital Programmes, said: “This is the second successful application of the ICE procurement approach, providing both our customers and our business with significantly enhanced value.
“Increasingly, ICE is allowing the market to provide us with better value infrastructure than traditional approaches.”
Simon Wright, Crossrail Programme Director, said: “Crossrail is now 60% complete and we are on time and within budget. The Bakerloo line link, being delivered by London Underground, is an integral part of Crossrail.”
The new link will be completed by the end of 2018 in time for Crossrail opening and the procurement stage has involved close co-operation between the LU and Crossrail teams.