Third construction package awarded for A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon upgrade
The third construction contractor has been appointed to build the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon project.
As part of the £15 billion, 5 year “Road Investment Strategy”, the government has pledged up to £1.5 billion to improve the A14 in Cambridgeshire.
In June Highways England appointed 2 joint venture contractors: one to design the multi-million pound improvement; the second to construct 2 sections of the scheme.
Today (21 September 2015) a third package of work has been awarded to Balfour Beatty Carillion joint venture; this covers widening the existing A14 from Swavesey to Milton. The initial award is for the pre-construction phase at a value of £461,359. Subject to the scheme being given the go ahead the joint venture will ultimately deliver £292m of construction work.
The contract has been awarded under Highways England’s Collaborative Delivery Framework (CDF).
Subject to the outcome of the development consent order examination by the Planning Inspectorate, and to the Transport Secretary’s decision regarding Highways England’s development consent order application, the proposed scheme is on target for main construction work to start in late 2016. The new bypass and widened A14 would open to traffic in 2020.
Map of the proposed improvements
Chris Taylor, Director for Complex Infrastructure at Highways England, leading the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, said:
This award is another step closer to our commitment to deliver the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme. Now all 3 joint venture contractors are on board, they will work collaboratively to finalise the pre-construction planning, to deliver the excellence that our customers and stakeholders expect of us.
While we appreciate our planning application is yet to be fully examined by the Planning Inspectorate and we are yet to receive permission to start construction, this third appointment will add to the support we need to prepare for works getting underway on time and to budget
Julian Lamb, Balfour Beatty Carillion Joint Venture project lead, said:
We are pleased to have been selected to deliver this complex project which will provide an important upgrade to a key part of the UK’s road network and provide an important boost to the regional and national economy. The ability of the joint venture partners to work as part of an integrated delivery model will be crucial in successfully carrying out this work.
Due to the size of the project, it was broken down into development (detailed design and pre-construction) and delivery phases, with construction of the proposed scheme split into 4 packages of work.
In June, the detailed design contract was awarded to Atkins CH2M joint venture at a total cost of £35.3m. Costain Skanska Joint venture were awarded construction package one, covering A1 at Alconbury to the East Coast Mainline, and package two, covering east of the East Coast Mainline to Swavesey. The value of the pre-construction phase was £1m. Subject to the scheme being given the go ahead, the joint venture will deliver £598m of construction work.
The fourth package is for the demolition of the viaduct over the East Coast Mainline at Huntingdon and associated works; this will be awarded in 2019.
The proposed improvement scheme will involve a new major bypass between Swavesey and Brampton, widening the A1 between Brampton and Alconbury, widening the existing A14 between Swavesey and Milton, improving the junctions at Bar Hill, Swavesey, Girton, Histon and Milton, Huntingdon Town Centre improvements, to include the demolition of the viaduct, and a new local access road.
The planning application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 31 December 2014. It is currently in the examination phase, which started on 14 May 2015 and will last for 6 months – this gives registered parties an opportunity to present their points of view to the independent inspector. A report will then be compiled by the Planning Inspectorate and submitted to the Secretary of State for a decision.
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