Contractors appointed to A303 tunnel scheme

NATIONAL Highways has appointed an international group of construction companies to carry out controversial works to the A303 in the South West.

The £1.7bn upgrade of the road between Amesbury and Berwick Down includes a two-mile-long tunnel under Stonehenge.

The Government-owned organisation’s preferred bidder for the scheme is a joint venture – known as MORE JV – that comprises Spain’s FCC Construccion, Italian business WeBuild and Austria-headquartered BeMo Tunnelling.

The consortium has been lined up for the £1.25bn contract to deliver the tunnel and main construction work. MORE JV will work with a design consortium including Atkins, Jacobs and Spanish designer Sener, acting as the design joint venture, National Highways said.

The main works contract covers the construction of the proposed tunnel’s civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and technology components, including the tunnel boring machine. It also includes the approach roadworks and structures, and the environmental components of the five-year construction phase.

The planning application for the transformational scheme is still awaiting sign off from transport secretary Grant Shapps after a High Court decision to block the plans in 2021.

In a victory for campaigners against the scheme, Mr Justice Holgate ruled the minister’s decision was “unlawful” due to a lack of evidence for the impact on the historic site and a failure to consider alternatives.

The announcement in August last year was called a “body blow” by South West business groups, which said the upgrade would bring billions of pounds of investment to the region’s economy.

National Highways said the appointment of a preferred bidder on Thursday, May 26, “in no way” pre-empted any decision by Mr Shapps.

Derek Parody, National Highways’ project director for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, said the contract would only become “live” once the transport secretary had concluded the planning process.

“Once that is finalised, and should the development consent order be granted, having a contractor in place will put us in the strongest possible position to deliver this transformational scheme and deliver the benefits we know it can,” he said.

“The scheme will not only unlock congestion along this vital A303 route, but also conserve and