Civils

A group of local authorities is looking for contractors for £800m of roads-related construction work. Central Bedfordshire Council published a formal procurement notice for the Eastern Highways Alliance Framework 4. The deal will cover structural, surfacing, road and capital projects across 11 local authority areas. Work going through the framework…

A £1.49bn project to develop the A66 has hit another stumbling block in the form of a legal challenge. The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project received development consent last month. The project would see a 50km section of road upgraded to dual carriageway. But during a legal challenge period that ended…

Some water companies risk missing legally binding deadlines after falling behind on their infrastructure targets, the head of England’s environment regulator has warned. Certain firms were “significantly behind” on work in the current AMP7 five-year capital programme, which runs from 2020-2025, Environment Agency chief executive Philip Duffy told the Environmental…

Liverpool City Council has put contractors on alert for £850m in planned highways work. The authority has launched a pre-market engagement exercise to glean feedback on its proposed framework. The framework is expected to be in place from late January 2025 and run for up to four years. A maximum…

Two megaprojects have signed agreements with trade unions. After a two-year campaign, the Unite union has secured access to HS2’s Old Oak Common railway station site, which is run by a Balfour Beatty/Vinci/Systra joint venture known as BBVS JV. Meanwhile, Sizewell C announced it had signed agreements to provide “best-in-class”…

Galliford Try and Colas are among 15 contractors that have been selected for work on road surfacing projects in Yorkshire. The firms scooped spots on the £300m four-year framework, with Galliford Try involved in three lots (see full list below). The framework will focus on road-surfacing and planning in up…

The Ministry of Defence’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is looking to speak to suppliers as it shapes multibillion-pound infrastructure plans. The body, which is responsible for the UK’s nuclear weapons, has issued a prior information notice (PIN) for its Future Infrastructure Programme – which covers new office accommodation, laboratories, testing…

East West Railway Company interim chief executive Beth West is to stand down at the end of May after her contract expires. West (pictured), a former HS2 commercial director and Balfour Beatty regional managing director, joined the client delivering the East West Rail (EWR) Oxford-to-Cambridge railway project in 2022. West…

Industry leaders have highlighted project delays caused by heavy rain after construction output declined in February. The latest Office for National Statistics data points to reversed fortunes for the construction sector, after last month’s figures reported a return to growth. Overall output fell by 1.9 per cent during the month,…

HS2 is still unclear about the costs of decommission its enabling works on the route’s cancelled phase 2a, six months after the government pulled the project. The rail body will decommission all of the enabling works it did north of Birmingham, after prime minister Rishi Sunak cancelled the leg in…