Thames Water has named the eight contractors that will be tendering for the main construction work of the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

The shortlisted contractors will be bidding for one or more of the three work packages which have been split into geographical sections of west, central, and east. The four contractors who have been selected for the west package will now prepare their bids for the next stage of the tender process starting in mid-November.

The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a major new sewer that will help tackle the problem of overflows from the capital's Victorian sewers and will protect the River Thames from increasing pollution for at least the next 100 years.

The Development Consent Application is currently being considered by the Planning Inspectorate and, subject to consent being granted, construction on the project is due to start in 2016 and will involve 24 construction sites across London.

The three main works packages are worth a total of up to £2.3bn – west (£300m – £500m), central (£600m – £950m) and east (£500m – £800m).


Mike Gerrard, managing director of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, said: "We are building for 22nd Century London to create a cleaner, healthier River Thames. The Thames Tideway Tunnel is needed to tackle the millions of tonnes of raw sewage which discharge into the River Thames every year. The river needs cleaning up and it needs to be cleaned up now.

"It will be the biggest tunnelling project ever undertaken in the UK's water industry. We have shortlisted the contractors with the right expertise and experience, who will deliver the best value for money for our customers.

"We are following a rigorous tender process and are confident the successful tenderers are capable of delivering the project."

Alongside the environmental improvements to the River Thames, the tunnel will create more than 9,000 jobs. Already, around 500 people are working on the project.

The project is expected to be financed and delivered by an independent Infrastructure Provider (IP), with its own licence from Ofwat. Thames Water, Government and Ofwat are continuing to work together to finalise the financing arrangements for the project. Procurement of the new IP is expected to begin in 2014 and is anticipated to take between six to nine months.

Following receipt of Board-level letters of confirmation of commitment to tender, the shortlisted contractors are:

West

Bam Nuttall, Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall JV

Costain, Vinci, Bachy JV

Dragados, Samsung JV

Ferrovial Agroman, Laing O'Rourke JV

Central

Bam Nuttall, Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall JV

Costain, Vinci, Bachy JV

Ferrovial Agroman, Laing O'Rourke JV

Skanska, Bilfinger, Razel Bec JV

East

Bam Nuttall, Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall JV

Bechtel, Strabag JV

Bouygues Travaux Publics

Costain, Vinci, Bachy JV

Hochtief, Murphy JV

(CD/JP)