By ashleykaren
A Bouygues and Murphy joint venture is listed to take the primary tunnel section for the massive Lower Thames Crossing project.
Reports declare the BMJV is now the frontrunner for the £2.3bn project to excavate the 4.2km tunnel.
National Highways has been in competitive conversation with a trio of shortlisted bidders for over a year and is anticipated to reveal a winner within weeks.
BM joint venture is up against Dragados-Hochtief (DH JV), BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Construction (UK), and Vinci Construction Grands Projects (BFV JV) for the job.
The twin bored tunnel project will see some of the most considerable excavated tunnels in the world at 16m wide. Also, it will classify as the longest road tunnel in the UK.
The award of the central tunnel section is the last of the three significant contract packages for the 23km route, which will connect Essex with Kent.
Partner contractors for the primary approach road contracts north and south of the tunnel have already been assigned.
Skanska was named as the preferred bidder for the £450m Kent Roads in the summer, while at the beginning of the year, Balfour beat Kier to the £1.2bn roads package north of the Thames.
The Kent Roads contract will provide the southern part of the route that links the A2/M2 to the tunnel system and comprises nearly four miles of new roads and structures and one of the most expansive green bridges in Europe.
Balfour has been assigned for the design and delivery of more than 10 miles of new highways, linking the M25 at Junction 29 and the A13 with the proposed Lower Thames Crossing tunnel at Tilbury, Essex.
The start date on the project has been pushed back by two years by the Government as part of its cost-cutting drive, with work not anticipated to get underway until 2026 at the earliest and last six years.
