News listings

21 September 2015

Initial contract award for apre-construction phase valued at nearly £0.5 million; full contract award subject to statutory approval of the wider A14 improvement scheme.

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, today announces that its joint venture with Carillion has been selected by Highways England to deliver a £292 million construction package to upgrade the A14 between Swavesey and Milton as part of the wider A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme.

The 50:50 Balfour Beatty Carillion joint venture has been selected for the construction package to widen a critical and complex 10 mile stretch of the existing A14. Works, which will take place in a live-traffic environment, will include the widening of existing road sections between Swavesey to Girton, including the Girton Junction with the M11 Motorway and the Cambridge Northern Bypass. The project will also require major junction rebuilds and numerous services diversions.

The wider Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, to which the government has pledged a £1.5 billion investment, is subject to statutory approval. The scheme will be delivered through an integrated delivery team comprising of a number of contractor joint ventures, designers and Highways England employees. The Balfour Beatty Carillion joint venture is the second construction joint venture to be appointed and will work collaboratively with all parties to input to the detailed design and pre-construction planning.

Main construction work is due to start in late 2016 with the new bypass and widened A14 opening to traffic in 2020.

Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive said:

'This is a complex project and our joint venture brings proven expertise and experience in working as part of an integrated delivery model - something which is going to be crucial for the successful delivery of this project.

'The improvements the scheme will deliver will help to relieve congestion on one of the busiest parts of the strategic road network between the Midlands and East Anglia and support national and regional economic growth.'

Analyst/investor enquiries:

Peter Young
Tel. +44 (0)20 7216 6824
peter.h.young@balfourbeatty.com

Media enquiries:

Louise McCulloch
Tel. +44 (0)20 7216 6846
louise.mcculloch@balfourbeatty.com

Notes to editors:

Balfour Beatty is a leading road designer, constructor, asset manager and maintenance provider in the UK. Projects carried out include traditional work through to the more complex design-build-finance-operate (DBFO), smart motorway and early contractor involvement (ECI) schemes.

Balfour Beatty's current major capital road works portfolio includes the £745m A90 Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and Balmedie/Tipperty project for Transport Scotland, and for Highways England: the £184m M60 J20 Manchester Smart Motorway Joint Venture; the £129m M3 J2 to J4a Smart Motorway scheme in Surrey; the £55m M25 Junction 30 Upgrade Scheme in Essex; the M4, M5 and M6 smart motorways package; the £75m A63 Castle Street Hull improvement scheme ECI; and the £44m A1 Coalhouse to Metro Centre scheme near Newcastle.

Recently completed schemes include the £105m Fiveways to Thetford A11 Dualling in Norfolk/Suffolk and the £88 million M4/M5 'Smart Motorway' near Bristol, both for Highways England.

Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) 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.

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