Highways England has appointed five companies as technical advisers to support the delivery of its multi-billion pound Regional Delivery Partnership (RDP) model.
Technical advisers are employed to recommend to Highways England the best route options from its pipeline of future projects and then protect its technical interests throughout development and delivery phases of a scheme.
There are currently 93 separate schemes within the Regional Investment Programme (RIP) with a forecast total expenditure across the first road investment period (2015-2020) and the second (2020-2025) of around £12.5bn.
The RDP frameworks will deliver approximately £9bn of that programme, across nearly 60 schemes nationally.
Advisers act as an assurance and supervisory service to enable delivery integration partners to create the environment for project success, Highways England said.
The technical advisers framework is valued at £260m and is divided into six lots, with each lot having a specific value threshold for schemes and covering a defined geographical area:
- lots 1 to 3 (Band A) are for schemes with a client budget of less than or equal to £100m, with an estimated value of £12.5m for each lot,
- lots 4 to 6 (Band B) are for schemes with a client budget of greater than £100m, with an estimated value of £37.5m for each lot.
Lot 2 South East & East will not be awarded due to all eligible suppliers being awarded another lot. Highways England is considering alternative arrangements in delivering this lot service but these arrangements have not been finalised yet.
Technical advisers are a constituent element in the RDP model.
As network owner, Highways England will programme manage regional delivery teams and develop localised supply chain communities. Technical advisers will drive value-based, optioneering and provide ongoing assurance throughout the scheme lifecycle.
And delivery integration partners are contracted to develop and deliver each preferred route working collaboratively, with technical advisers as part of an Integrated Project Team (IPT) to deliver the programme.
