The Highways Agency has awarded Amey a £200m deal to maintain and improve motorways and major A roads in parts of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.The award for Area 8 is the fifth Asset Support Contract to be awarded by the agency and will go live from April 1 2014.The five year deal will see Amey carry out maintenance, renewal and improvement work on more than 500 miles of carriageway around towns and cities such as Milton Keynes, Luton and Stevenage.Asset Support Contracts are being pioneered by the Highways Agency to help reduce the cost of road maintenance by 25% by 2015.David Brewer, the Highways Agency’s Asset Delivery Director said: “We are committed to increasing investment to improve the capability and condition of the network and to delivering cost efficiencies in the way in which it is delivered.“Effective collaboration with our supply chain partners is essential. I am delighted to be working with Amey and to be building on an established relationship to deliver a more effective and efficient network in the East of England.”Mel Ewell, Amey’s chief executive, said: “The award of Area 8 supports our on-going strategy to grow our market share in this sector.“The Highways Agency is a key client to Amey and this, along with the recently awarded Area 6 contract, strengthens our platform with the agency, providing us with significant opportunities to further develop this relationship and help move the industry forward.”Key features of the new contracts include:• maintenance standards which are ‘outcome based’ and less prescriptive about how and when work is delivered• affordable levels of service, with appropriate quality but no reward for over-delivery• incentives for innovation and efficiency, including the opportunity for contract extensions• simplified pricing mechanisms with a ‘year on year’ cost reduction mechanism• a higher cost threshold for works to allow more procurement through the ASC rather than by separate tender• managing technology maintenance and improvement works through the main contract for more efficient and joined up delivery.Catherine Brookes, acting Divisional Director for the Agency’s East region added: “This contract award is good news.“It incentivises our supply chain to deliver results for road users, and will achieve significant cost savings too. I am looking forward to working alongside Amey to deliver the best service we can for the region.“More than 90% of the Agency’s expenditure is delivered through contractors and that is why we need to work with an efficient, effective and professional supply chain to drive down costs and deliver the highest quality service.“I am confident that this new contract will do just that.”