CONTRACTS FOR the first phase of the main civil engineering works for Phase 1 of HS2 have been awarded by the Government.
The contracts cover the route between London and the West Midlands, for which royal assent was granted in February; it is due to open in 2026. The stage one contracts comprise design and construction preparation works and have been awarded as follows:
■ SCS joint venture (Skanska, Costain and Strabag) – Area South – Euston Tunnel and Approaches and Northolt Tunnels;
■ Align joint venture (Bouygues Travaux Publics, VolkerFitzpatrick, Sir Robert McAlpine) – Area Central – Chiltern Tunnels and Colne Valley Viaduct;
■ CEK joint venture (Carillion, Eiffage and Kier) – Area Central – North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley and Brackley to South Portal of Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel;
■ BBV JV (Balfour Beatty and Vinci) – Area North – Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel to Delta Junction and Birmingham Spur, and Delta Junction to West Coast main line tie-in.
The overall value of the civils contracts for Phase 1, covering both these awards and the later full construction phase contracts, is estimated to be £6.6 billion. Stage two of the contracts will commence in 2019, and together the construction is expected to support 16,000 jobs across the country. Enabling works for Phase 1 are already underway, following the award of contracts in November 2016.
The Department for Transport has also confirmed invitations to tender have been released for station design services contracts for the four Phase 1 stations at Euston, Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange and Birmingham Curzon Street. An invitation to participate in dialogue (ITPD) for a Euston Master Development Partner was also released to shortlisted bidders.
