A Bouygues Travaux Publics – Murphy Joint Venture (BMJV) has won a £1.34bn contract to build the country’s largest bored tunnels as part of the Lower Thames Crossing project.
BMJV will take charge of designing and constructing twin road tunnels under the Thames running to 2.6 miles long and over 16 metres wide - making them the largest in the UK and one of the widest in Europe.
The tunnels need to enable three lanes of traffic to flow through freely at the national speed limit, including the UK’s next generation of goods vehicles - currently restricted from crossing at Dartford - such as double-decker HGVs and those carrying sustainable fuels like hydrogen.
The award of the 'tunnels and approaches' contract by National Highways completes the assembly of the Lower Thames Crossing delivery team, with BMJV joining Balfour Beatty, which will build the roads north of the Thames, and Skanska which will build the roads in Kent.
The Lower Thames Crossing will connect Kent and Essex and is designed to tackle congestion at the Dartford Crossing by almost doubling road capacity across the Thames east of London.
The £9bn scheme was due to begin in 2024-25 but in March the Government announced that this had been put back by two years.
Matt Palmer, Lower Thames Crossing executive director, said: 'This contract award completes a world class team that has carbon reduction, community and value at its heart.
'By bringing the team together at an early stage we can focus on driving out carbon, delivering the best possible value for money and maximising the huge benefits the project will deliver nationally, regionally and locally.
'Bouygues Travaux Publics – Murphy JV and all of our delivery partners are fully bought into our passion for delivering a green-skills legacy and share our ambition to use the Lower Thames Crossing as a catalyst to change the whole construction industry’s attitude and approach to carbon reduction.'
National Highways said the delivery team is currently working with local stakeholders to carry out the detailed design work to help reduce the impact of disruption from the works and embed new and emerging low carbon technologies and materials.
Bertrand Burtschell, managing director of Bouygues Travaux Publics, said: 'We are excited to deliver the Lower Thames Crossing Tunnels and Approaches contract on time and on budget, while playing our part in creating a positive long-lasting legacy for the Lower Thames Crossing project in both Kent and Essex.
'Alongside our Lower Thames Crossing delivery partners, we will work tirelessly to deliver a project that is the benchmark for future infrastructure in terms of skills education, employment opportunities, local business growth and exemplar low carbon construction!'
Nick Fletcher, UK managing director at Murphy, said: 'Our purpose is to improve life by delivering world-class infrastructure, we look forward to working with all partners and stakeholders on this project to help realise the long-term benefits of investing in a key part of the UK’s national infrastructure.
'The Lower Thames Crossing is a great opportunity for all partners to showcase our engineering expertise and commitment to collaboration and constructing low carbon infrastructure.'
Construction of approach roads, tunnel systems and portal buildings are also covered by the tunnels contract.
BMJV is a joint venture comprising Bouygues Travaux Publics S.A.S. and J Murphy & Sons Ltd, supported by Mott McDonald Ltd and Ove Arup and Partners Ltd.
The Lower Thames Crossing's procurement process has brought the delivery partners on board at an early stage to support the project's role as a Pathfinder 'exploring carbon neutral construction'.
