Contractors keen to secure work on the Lower Thames Crossing are invited to bid for two tenders to design and build roads to the north and south of the tunnel.
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A £1.3Bn ‘Roads North of the Thames’ contract will cover 16km of new highway, with over 30 new or upgraded structures including embankments, cuttings and retaining walls to link to the A13 and the M25 at junction 29.
The second tender is the £600M ‘Kent Roads’ contract, featuring 6km of new route including a multi level junction to connect in to the A2.
Highways England’s executive director for the Lower Thames Crossing Matt Palmer said the two contracts will provide 22,000 construction jobs and offer “a huge economic boost to the UK economy” when the link opens to traffic.
Both contracts place a great focus on environmental mitigation measures, including ‘green bridges’ to accommodate walking and cycling. “Our challenge is to build the new crossing in a way that not only supports the next generation of low carbon vehicles, but minimises our footprint and allows us to enhance the natural environment and leave a positive legacy for our neighbours and users,” Matt added.
A £2.3Bn ‘Tunnels & Approaches’ contract is also being taken forward and three shortlisted bidders were announced this week. They are as follows:
Highways England plans to resubmit its application for a Development Consent Order for the project later this year. An application was originally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate last October but was withdrawn.
Highways England has also published a fourth progress report from its strategic design panel looking at how roads are designed in future. The panel has 13 members from the sector including CIHT. One key recommendation suggests that road planning and design must accept ‘the challenge to create a network resilient to climate change with an emphasis on sustainable design’.
Lower Thames Crossing’s engineering design lead Steve Roberts says the advice of the panel was “invaluable in the shaping of our scheme proposals”.
He added: “The Design Panel with its broad range of experts, was a useful forum to review the balance of constraints and opportunities within the scheme and the overall level of ambition in our design.”
To read the report, click here.
(Image: Highways England)
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