An invitation to tender was sent out for the third and final tunnel section yesterday. Worth up to £950m, the central section is the longest tunnel drive at 12.7km long.
Central: (£600m – £950m)
- Bam Nuttall, Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall JV
- Costain, Vinci, Bachy JV
- Ferrovial Agroman, Laing O’Rourke JV
- Skanska, Bilfinger, Razel Bec JV
The successful bidders expected to be announced in May 2015.
The project has been split geographically into three main construction works contracts, with the ITT for West sent out in December 2013 and East in January 2014.
The Development Consent Application is currently being considered by the Planning Inspectorate and, subject to consent being granted, construction on the project is due to start in 2016 and will involve 24 construction sites across London.
Mike Gerrard, Thames Tideway Tunnel managing director, said: “We are making excellent progress with the tender process and we are confident that we will receive competitive bids that will result in the best value for our customers.”
Alongside the environmental improvements to the tidal River Thames, the tunnel will create more than 9,000 jobs. Already, around 500 people are working on the project.
The project will be financed and delivered by an independent Infrastructure Provider, with its own licence from Ofwat.
Procurement of the new IP is expected to begin next month.
