By ashleykaren
On 07 December, National Highways announced that it granted the contract to construct the country’s most extensive bored tunnels to Bouygues Travaux Publics – Murphy Joint Venture.
The Lower Thames Crossing is a submitted new road linking Kent and Essex and is designed to tackle congestion at the Dartford Crossing. The new route will assist with growing the economy across the UK by nearly doubling road capacity across the Thames east of London and make journeys across the region quicker, safer, and more reliable.
The Tunnels and Approaches contract award completes the assembly of the Lower Thames Crossing delivery team, with BMJV joining Balfour Beatty, who will construct the roads north of the Thames, and Skanska, who will build the roads in Kent.
The delivery team is currently getting construction ready by employing their extensive experience in providing significant projects around the globe to enhance the design and explore ways to maximize the project benefits. This preparation involves working with local stakeholders to carry out detailed design work that will decrease the impact of construction on the local community and environment and embed new and emerging low-carbon technologies and materials.
In addition, the team has made promises to develop a local supply chain and help local people take advantage of the new green jobs and skills that are said to be available on their doorstep during construction.
Matt Palmer, the Lower Thames Crossing Executive Director, articulated: “This contract award completes a world-class team that has carbon reduction, community, and value at its heart. By bringing the team together at an early stage, we can focus on driving out carbon, delivering the best possible value for money, and maximizing the huge benefits the project will deliver nationally, regionally, and locally.”
He also claimed: “Bouygues Travaux Publics – Murphy JV and all of our delivery partners are fully bought into our passion for delivering a green-skills legacy and share our ambition to use the Lower Thames Crossing as a catalyst to change the whole construction industry’s attitude and approach to carbon reduction.”
Managing Director of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Bertrand Burtschell, stated: “We are excited to work in partnership with National Highways and our joint venture partner Murphy, alongside a range of amazing local supply chain and stakeholder partners to deliver the Lower Thames Crossing Tunnels and Approaches contract on time and budget, while playing our part in creating a positive, long-lasting legacy for the Lower Thames Crossing project in both Kent and Essex. Alongside our Lower Thames Crossing delivery partners, we will work tirelessly to deliver a project that is the benchmark for future infrastructure in terms of skills education, employment opportunities, local business growth, and exemplar low carbon construction!”
UK Managing Director at Murphy, Nick Fletcher, expressed: “We are delighted to have been awarded the Tunnels and Approaches in partnership with National Highways and our joint venture partner Bouygues Travaux Publics. At Murphy, our purpose is to improve life by delivering world-class infrastructure. We look forward to working with all partners and stakeholders on this project to help realize the long-term benefits of investing in a key part of the UK’s national infrastructure. Lower Thames Crossing is a great opportunity for all partners to showcase our engineering expertise and commitment to collaboration and constructing low-carbon infrastructure.”
The Tunnels and Approaches contract contains the design and construction of twin road tunnels under the river Thames, which will be the longest in the UK at 2.6 miles. At more than 16 meters wide, they will be one of the widest in Europe to promote three traffic lanes to flow through freely at the national speed limit. As reported, this includes the UK’s next generation of goods vehicles that are presently prohibited from crossing at Dartford, such as efficient double-decker HGVs and those carrying sustainable fuels like hydrogen. Furthermore, the contract incorporates the tunnel systems, portal buildings, and approach roads.
The Lower Thames Crossing ground-breaking procurement process builds upon National Highways’ track record of providing significant projects like the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme early and on budget and has learned lessons from other infrastructure programs.
Bringing the delivery partners on board at an early stage, combined with the supplementary planning time gained by rephasing the project’s construction period earlier this year, indicates that National Highways can more effectively manage risk and cost.
Moreover, the procurement approach supported the project’s part as a Pathfinder exploring carbon-neutral construction. It is the first primary infrastructure project in the UK to set an ambitious construction carbon limit in its procurement process and then enable the competition between bidders to achieve additional carbon reduction at no extra cost.
It is worth mentioning that BMJV has used its tunneling and engineering experience to dramatically lower the embodied carbon below this carbon limit, plus ways to refine the design to decrease disruption to the local community and leave a legacy of green jobs and skills in the region and broader supply chain.
Those interested in further information can contact info@lowerthamescrossing.co.uk or call 0300 123 5000.
