Thames Tideway Tunnel contracts announced

World-class companies’ ‘super sewer’ agreements.

The Thames Tideway Tunnel project has taken another step forward this week with the official announcement of contracts for three joint ventures.

BMB JV, a joint venture between BAM Nuttall Ltd, Morgan Sindall Plc and Balfour Beatty Group Limited, is to deliver the western section of the tunnel after settling a £416M deal.

The tunnel’s central section will be delivered by FLO JV, Ferrovial Agroman UK Ltd and Laing O’Rourke Construction’s joint venture. As providers of the tunnel’s largest component, FLO JV were awarded a £746M contract.

CVB JV meanwhile has secured a £605M contract for the East works package. The joint venture of Costain, VINCI Construction Grands Projects and Bachy Soletanche Ltd will begin works on the tunnel immediately.

A procurement process managed by Thames Water selected the winning ventures with the companies announced as preferred contractors earlier this year.

Andrew Wyllie CBE, Chief Executive of Costain, said: “We are pleased to have been selected as a delivery partner for the Thames Tideway Tunnel. This award reflects Costain’s ability to provide the breadth of skills and capabilities necessary for these major schemes, and our ability to operate safely as part of a collaborative integrated team.”

Stephen Fox CBE, Chief Executive, BAM Nuttall Ltd said: “BAM Nuttall Ltd has a rich heritage of delivering complex civil engineering projects and as a business we are renowned for our expertise in the delivery of tunnels. We are delighted to have been awarded this prestigious contract during our 150th anniversary year. We look forward to delivering a successful project for Bazelgette Tunnel Ltd, which will benefit Londoners as it will bring life to the River Thames for many years to come.”

The companies will play a vital role in Bazalgette Tunnel Ltd’s £4.2Bn infrastructure project to modernise London’s existing sewerage network and bring it into the forefront of sewerage technology.

At present, the interceptor sewers constructed by the consortium’s namesake, Sir Joseph Bazalgette, cannot support the city’s rapidly growing population. Some 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage currently finds its way into the river in a typical year. The new 25km tunnel will resolve this to accommodate London’s projected population for at least another century.

Andy Mitchell, CEO at Tideway, the delivery organisation for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, said: “Our task over the next seven years is quite simply to make sure London has a sewerage system capable of meeting the capital’s modern day needs. Everyone in the team is excited and can’t wait to get started.

“It’s not just about cleaning up the river, important though that is. Nor is it just about building a tunnel. It’s about making sure we transform the River Thames, making it central to the capital’s wider social and economic wellbeing. This is a once in a generation opportunity and we are determined to raise the bar in every way, not least the way we treat local communities potentially most directly affected by construction works.

“Through our commitment to remove excavated materials by barge, the opportunity to rejuvenate the river as a transport artery will be a particular focus for us.”

The project is to create 9,000 direct and indirect jobs at the peak of construction.

 

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