Mersey Gateway Project receives final tenders

Three international consortia have submitted final tenders for the UK’s Mersey Gateway Project, which will provide a new toll bridge over the River Mersey between Runcorn and Widnes.

Flagged as one of the largest infrastructure initiatives in the UK at present, the Mersey Gateway Project includes a new six-lane toll bridge, while the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge will also be tolled.

The value of the construction phase of the project, including land, is estimated at £600 million (€700 million). The total project costs/revenues over the next 30 years will be around £2 billion (€2.3 billion).

Bidding for the 30-year contract to design, build, finance and operate the new bridge, together with associated work in the towns, are three consortia.

Balfour Beatty, Bouygues Travaux Publics form the Egis Projects consortium. Meanwhile, the Merseylink consortium consists of Macquarie Capital Group, Bilfinger Project Investments Europe, Vialia Sociedad Gestora de Concesiones de Infraestructuras and FCC Construcción.

Finally, the MGL consortium consists of BAM Nuttall, Hochtief PPP Solutions and Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras.

Halton Borough Council has received the tenders. A project team and its expert advisors will assess the three bids before announcing the preferred bidder in June. Construction is scheduled to start in late 2013 or early 2014.