Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald, a 70:30 joint venture (JV) between two of the UK’s most established construction and consultancy companies, has secured a £115m (US$151m) Asset Support Contract extension from Highways England (HE).
The 17-month contract extension will run from November 2017 to March 2019, allowing the Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald JV (BBMM) to continue its service delivery for HE’s Area 10, which covers Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
The award will recognize five years’ continuous improvement of BBMM’s asset management, renewals and network enhancement scheme delivery, and highways maintenance throughout the Northwest of England. The current Asset Support Contract delivers a full range of service delivery and maintenance activities, including 24/7 incident response, to ensure the safe operation of the 354 miles (570km) on HE’s Strategic Road Network (SRN) within Area 10.
On behalf of the HE, the BBMM JV operates, maintains and improves 2,220 structures and SRN routes of the Area 10 motorway network around Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, and the southern parts of Lancashire. The joint venture held a similar contract for the network known as Area 4, which included motorways and key trunk roads in Kent, Sussex and small parts of Surrey and Hampshire.
In addition to working in a joint venture partnership, Mott MacDonald forms part of Balfour Beatty’s UK Strategic Design Consultant Partnership. This mutually beneficial partnership aims to foster a new level of openness, collaboration and innovation not seen before within the country’s construction industry.
“We have an in-depth knowledge of Highways England’s Strategic Road Network, with a proven ability to manage Area 10 effectively,” explained Phil Clifton, executive general manager of Balfour Beatty’s major projects highways business. “Since the contract commenced in 2012, we are delighted to have successfully delivered over 500 Highways England renewal and improvement schemes, offering a positive customer experience, and improved journeys for road users.”
Alan Shepherd, HE’s north west director, noted, “The North West has some of the busiest roads in the country, so it is vital drivers experience safe, smooth and reliable journeys. I look forward to continuing to work with BBMM over the next year and a half as our main contractor for maintenance and improvement schemes in the region.”
Richard Chinn, Mott MacDonald’s highways director, added, “This contract extension is a reflection of the commitment shown by the BBMM team, building strong working relationships with Highways England to ensure customers receive a service that we are all proud to be associated with.”
