The shortlists for the management and design support contracts on Crossrail have seen four firms invited to bid for programme partner, five for project delivery partner and 15 to tender for design framework agreements.
Construction of Crossrail in London will involve excavation of a total of 41.5km of 6m i.d. twin tube tunnel using seven TBMs, starting in 2011. Enabling works start next year. Trains are to run from 2017-18.
Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), the developer of the project, invited four parties to tender for the programme partner contract – Bechtel, Mouchel and two JVs: Parsons Brinckerhoff with Balfour Beatty Management (called Legacy 3); and, AECOM, CH2M Hill United Kingdom Unlimited and Nichols Group (called Transcend).
Five parties were shortlisted to bid for the project delivery partner contract. They are Bechtel, Laing O’Rourke Holdings and three JVs: Legacy 3; Capita Symonds with NNN; and, Fluor, Ove Arup and EC Harris (called Flare).
The 15 parties invited to tender for the design framework contracts are a single JV of Faber Maunsell with Gifford, and 14 companies: Aedas; Atkins; BDP; Capita Symonds; Halcrow; Hyder Consulting; Jacobs Engineering; Mott MacDonald; Mouchel; Ove Arup & Partners International; Parsons Brinckerhoff; Scott Brownrigg; Scott Wilson Railways; and, WSP.
Steve Rowsell, head of procurement, described the Crossrail team as having been “enormously impressed” by the quality and experience of the interested parties.
CLRL issued the invitations to bid last month, as planned. The US$28.1bn scheme to build a new main line rail link running East-West through the centre of London, and tying into existing networks, received legislative approval in July.
The shortlisting was described by Doug Oakervee, executive chairman of CLRL, as “another significant milestone” in the development of the project.
He added that as the construction project was Europe’s largest “the appointment of our partners is critical to the success” of the scheme.
Separately, CLRL is to use Optimised Contractor Involvement (OCI) on Crossrail (T&TI, August, p11).
