Three bidders shortlisted for Lower Thames Crossing

7 April 2021


Highways England has named three construction/engineering companies which it has shortlisted to build the proposed Lower Thames Crossing – destined to be the longest road tunnel in Britain and hailed as the most ambitious UK roads project for a generation.

The three companies are:

  • BFV JV comprising BAM Nuttal, Ferrovial Construction (UK) and VINCI Construction Grands Projets, supported by Atkins, Tecnica y Proyectos SA (TYPSA) and Stantec UK.
  • Bouygues Murphy JV (BMJV) comprising Bouygues Travaux Publics and J Murphy & Sons, supported by Mott McDonald and Ove Arup and Partners.
  • Dragados-Hochtief JV (DHJV) comprising Dragados and Hochtief Infrastructure.

As part of the contract tender process, the three companies will now be invited to enter into competitive dialogue with Highways England.

Matt Palmer, Lower Thames Crossing Executive Director, said: “This contract is unparalleled in its ambition,? and 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.”

The proposed Lower Thames Crossing aims to double road capacity across the River Thames east of London, with 14.3mi (22.9km) of new road featuring twin 2.6-mile-long (4.16km) tunnels under the river. Their design and construction will form part of the Tunnels and Approaches (T&A) contract and, at 16m wide, they will be some of the largest bored tunnels in the world.

The T&A contract’s scope also includes portal buildings, approach roads and tunnel systems. It is one of three main works contracts that make up the scheme, with a £1.9bn (US$2.6bn) roads contract currently out for tender and the £162.5m (US$224m) Integration Partner contract awarded previously to Jacobs.

Later this year, Highways England plans to resubmit its application for a Development Consent Order: an application was originally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in October 2020 but was withdrawn in order to provide more information.