Highways Agency

• M25 Jct 5 to 7 Widening

Procurement

We are procuring the widening through a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract.  The basis was given in the Contract Notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union in November 2005 (Public Works Contract (Negotiated Procedure) Notice, reference 2005/S 214-211161).

The DBFO Contract will be awarded under the negotiated procedure applicable to Public Works Contracts under the Public Works Contract Regulations 1991 (SI 1991/2680) (the Regulations) that implement the Public Works Contracts Directive (93/37/EC).

The Contract Notice invited requests from interested parties to prequalify.  In the prequalification process, completed in March 2006, we identified 5 consortia who we considered have the capability and experience necessary for this work. 

We invited them to submit outline proposals following which we asked three of these consortia to submit full tenders in early 2007.  The Agency has now announced the provision preferred bidder to upgrade and the manage the M25 will be Connect Plus.

Connect Plus is a consortium consisting of Balfour Beatty, Skanska, Atkins and Egis Projects. Subject to the availability of funds and completion of statutory processes we would award the contract in late 2008.

We would use this contract to deliver 4 of the 5 sections to be widened.  The widening of the section of M25 between junctions 1b and 3 is being delivered through a separate contract.

We would use the DBFO contract also to provide the day to day maintenance work of motorways and trunk roads in Highways Agency Area 5 and the Dartford Crossing over a 30 year period. 

This area comprises the M25, the A282 Dartford Crossing and sections of radial routes (like the M1, M3, M4 and M11) which cross the M25.