Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, today announces that its joint venture with Morgan Sindall and BAM Nuttall has been awarded a £416 million contract to construct part of London’s new ‘super sewer’, the Thames Tideway Tunnel, for Bazalgette Tunnel Limited.
The Thames Tideway Tunnel will ensure the capital’s sewerage system is fit to support its projected population for at least the next 100 years, and will tackle the issue of discharges of untreated sewage that currently enter the River Thames on a regular basis.
Balfour Beatty’s three-way equal joint venture, which is known as BMB and was appointed as preferred bidder for the scheme in February 2015, will create the six kilometre ‘West’ section of the 25km Thames Tideway Tunnel.
BMB’s ‘West’ section will run from Acton in West London to Wandsworth in South West London and will incorporate seven separate work sites along the route. Works will include design, construction, commissioning and maintenance for a two to five year period following construction completion.
A digital construction approach utilising Building Information Modelling (BIM) will allow full testing and simulation of construction activity before works start on site for safe and efficient delivery. Project materials will be transported down the River Thames to ease road congestion, emissions and disruption throughout the duration of the project.
The Thames Tideway contract builds upon Balfour Beatty’s expertise in delivering large multi- disciplinary tunnelling contracts in sensitive areas including the Crossrail Liverpool Street and Whitechapel Station tunnels and the A3 Hindhead tunnel.
Mobilisation work for the ‘West’ tunnel will begin in September this year with completion scheduled for 2022. The Thames Tideway Tunnel project will create more than 9,000 direct and indirect jobs at the peak of construction.
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive said: “Balfour Beatty’s expert teams have for many years helped to make the London landscape – both visible and invisible – what it is today, ensuring it can to continue to grow as one of the world’s leading capital cities. The award of this unique infrastructure project, which is part of the largest ever undertaken by the UK water industry, is another example of the part we are playing in 21st Century engineering.
“At the same time, together with our joint venture partners, we are committed to delivering tangible benefits for our local communities and their economy - through sensitive construction, engaging local businesses and SMEs into our supply chain and providing local job opportunities, including 50 new apprenticeships.”
Analyst/investor enquiries:
Peter Young
+44 (0)207 216 6824
Peter.H.Young@balfourbeatty.com
Media enquiries:
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Louise.McCulloch@balfourbeatty.com
Notes to editors:
Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group.
With 36,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth.
We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
Our main geographies are the UK, US, Middle East and South East Asia. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the world’s biggest shopping mall in Dubai, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
Balfour Beatty’s portfolio of completed major infrastructure schemes includes the £371 million A3 Hindhead Tunnel, the £590 million Heathrow Terminal 2B project and the £300 million Aquatics Centre for the London Olympics. Current major infrastructure schemes include the former Olympic Stadium Transformation project, the M3 ‘smart motorway’ scheme and Crossrail’s Whitechapel station and Whitechapel and Liverpool Street Stations Tunnel schemes.
Bazalgette Tunnel Limited is a new special-purpose company appointed to deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel project. It has its own licence from Ofwat as a new regulated utilities business, separate from Thames Water.
Selected via a procurement process managed by Thames Water, Bazalgette Tunnel Limited is backed by pension funds and other long-term investors represented by Allianz, Amber Infrastructure Group, Dalmore Capital Limited and DIF.
The consortium takes its name from Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the pioneering Victorian engineer, who more than 150 years ago transformed the capital, constructing the interceptor sewers to keep sewage out of the River Thames. Still in excellent condition, these remain the backbone of the capital’s sewerage network, but now lack the capacity to cope with the city’s rapidly growing population.
