Ten English local authorities have launched a framework for highway maintenance and improvement schemes that could be worth up to US$519 million over four years.
The Eastern Highways Framework 3 has created a bank of contractors to manage schemes worth up to $39 million, such as roundabouts, cycle paths and new roads in eastern England.
The successful contractors awarded onto the framework are BAM Nuttall, Dyer & Butler, John Sisk, Eurovia UK, Galliford Try Infrastructure, Geoffrey Osborne, Interserve Construction, Jackson Civil Engineering and Marlborough Highways.
The local authority councils said the framework aims to reduce the time and cost of projects and provide an efficient and effective way to procure investment in highways.
The exercise was led by Essex County Council on behalf of the Eastern Highways Alliance which has been in existence for the past eight years, said Kevin Bentley, cabinet member for infrastructure at Essex County Council – one of the 10 members of the alliance.
The other members are Cambridgeshire County Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Luton Borough Council, Norfolk County Council, Peterborough City Council, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Suffolk County Council and Thurrock Council.