National Highways has awarded Balfour Beatty a contract worth around £1.2bn on the controversial Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) project.
The LTC is a proposed new road between Kent and Essex through the longest road tunnels in the UK.
The Roads North of the Thames contract is a two-stage design and build contract delivering the around 10 miles of new road from around 1km north of the Thames in Thurrock to Junction 29 of the M25 in the London Borough of Havering.
It includes a number of new link roads and junctions to connect with the M25, A13 and A1089. LTC procurement director Katharina Ferguson said: ‘Balfour Beatty will bring the best of UK construction to bear on this project. They share our commitment to driving carbon out of construction and maximise the benefits for local communities.’
Proposed A13, A1089 Lower Thames Crossing junction
Balfour Beatty group chief executive Leo Quinn said: ‘Our deep domain knowledge and long-standing history in complex road construction, acquired through many years of successful delivery on behalf of National Highways, makes us ideally positioned to deliver this project to the highest standard.’
National Highways applied for a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the scheme in 2020, which it withdrew almost immediately before resubmitting last year.
With the future of the scheme far from clear, National Highways said the start of construction is subject both to the DCO and government’s final funding and investment decision.
It follows a call from the National Audit Office for ministers to reconsider whether the project, which is assessed as low value for money, remains feasible.
Balfour Beatty said that subject to a DCO, the Department for Transport is expected to give Notice to Proceed in 2024 and that the full value of the contract will go into its order book at that point, with main construction scheduled to commence shortly after and completion expected between 2029 and 2030.
The firm will also deliver 49 structures including bridges and major viaducts.
It said it would utilise modular construction techniques to build the structures offsite in a controlled factory environment, significantly reducing carbon emissions by minimising the number of lorry movements and material deliveries to and from site.
Proposed Lower Thames Crossing A13 junction
It added that at construction peak, it will directly employ a workforce of around 2,000 including around 150 apprenticeship, graduate and trainee positions.
The contract comprises:
- Around 10 miles of new road
- Over 30 new and/or upgraded structures, embankments, cuttings and retaining walls, under bridges
- Viaducts at Tilbury over Cole’s Reservoirs and at Mardyke across flood plain
- Connecting the new road to the M25 at Junction 29
- The diversion of utilities including gas mains and electric cables and towers
- Ecological works for species protection and habitat enhancement
- Archaeology ‘carefully and sensitively’ excavated and recorded
