Highways England has revealed the three groups shortlisted for鈥痶he tunnels and approaches package of the Lower Thames Crossing.
The Lower Thames Crossing is a 拢6bn project in all, comprises 14.3 miles of new road to the east of London, with twin 2.6 mile-long tunnels under the river to connect Kent and Essex.
The groups invited to enter into competitive dialogue with Highways England, which is the next stage in the contract tender process, are:
鈥 BFV Joint Venture; comprising BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial 91黑料网 and Vinci 91黑料网 Grands Projets, supported by Atkins, Tecnica y Proyectos (TYPSA) and Stantec
鈥 Bouygues Murphy Joint Venture (BMJV); comprising Bouygues Travaux Publics and J Murphy & Sons, supported by Mott McDonald and Ove Arup & Partners
鈥 Dragados-Hochtief Joint Venture (DH JV); comprising Dragados and Hochtief Infrastructure, (both part of Spain's ACS Group).

The鈥痶unnels and approaches鈥痗ontract鈥痠ncludes鈥痙esign and鈥痗onstruction of鈥痶win鈥痳oad tunnels under鈥痶he River Thames.鈥疉t 16 metres鈥痺ide, these tunnels will be some of the largest bored tunnels in the world.鈥 They will also be the longest road tunnels in the UK.鈥疶he scope also includes the portal buildings, approach roads and the tunnel systems.鈥
Lower Thames Crossing executive director Matt Palmer said: 鈥淭he Lower Thames Crossing is the most ambitious road project this country has seen since the M25 was completed 35 years ago. This contract shows our commitment to this project, which will support 22,000 jobs during its construction and provide a huge economic boost to the UK economy when it opens for traffic.聽
鈥淭his contract is unparalleled in its ambition,鈥痑nd we need the right partner to match that ambition. We look forward to entering into competitive dialogue with the three shortlisted companies and hope the final bids match our aspirations.鈥
Highways England plans to resubmit its application for a Development Consent Order later this year. An application was originally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in October 2020 but lacked essential details and so had to be withdrawn.
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