Page 8 - TunnelTalk Annual Review 2015

Global connections
HS2 begins construction procurement
TunnelTalk repoting Procurement of the major civils
contracts for the second high-speed
rail line in the UK (HS2) began at the end of September 2015.
AlistairCowan,forHS2,toldTunnelTalk: “Pre-qualification questionnaires for £6.4 billionofcivilscontracts,dividedintoseven packages, ranging from £700 million to £1billion, will be released ahead of invitations to tender in Spring 2016, followed by the award of contracts later in 2016 or early 2017. This will be timed to follow the granting of Royal Assent of the hybrid bill to permit the project that is proceeding through UK Parliament. Construction of the major civil works, including tunnelling, is scheduled to begin in 2018.
It is understood that the originally- planned three contracts in the south section have been merged into two larger lots, and it is these that incorporate most of the twin TBM-bored running tunnels for the first phase of HS2.
These include the 7km tunnel out of Euston Station in London, the 14km Northolt tunnel in the east of the capital, and the 16km Chiltern tunnel from the M25 through to Buckinghamshire.
Following a detailed engineering and environmental impact assessment, the Chiltern tunnel is now extended at its northern end by a further 2.6km. Originally planned as separate tunnels of 1.25km and 9.5km long, a residents’ campaign, backed by the local Member of Parliament, in 2012, succeeded in having them joined together into a continuous deep level tunnel of 13.4km.
“Major infrastructure projects like HS2 will always be about striking a balance between engineering, cost and environmental impacts,” said Alison Munro, HS2 Managing Director of Development. “We will remain open to potential design improvements.”
Most of the large civil contractors in Europe have teamed up into eight joint ventures to bid for the HS2 Phase 1 civil construction contracts. These include the confirmed partnerships of Kier/Carillion/ Eiffage, and Robert McAlpine/Buoygues/ Volker Fitzpatrick. Costain/Skanska are also thought to have teamed up following their successful collaboration on the Crossrail project in London.
In December 2015, HS2 published a shortlist of seven joint venture teams bidding to win a share of £900 million of preparatory work ahead of the start of major civil engineering on the first stage of the project, between London and Birmingham (Table 1). A spokesman for HS2 told TunnelTalk that JVs will likely be limited to one lot, although a final decision had not been taken on this.
The enabling works contracts are divided into three north, south and central lots and cover a range of activities including utility diversions, ecology surveys, archaeology investigations, establishing site compounds, watercourse activities, highway realignments, monitoring and instrumentation, structural reinforcements and drainage. Four of the JV teams have been shortlisted for all three lots. Work is expected to start on schedule in 2017.
“Announcing the shortlist provides the certainty for companies to focus on their bids, start to put in place supply chains, and invest in recruitment, training and education ahead of the start of construction,” said Simon Kirby, HS2 Chief Executive.
The announcement follows on from the Government’s decision to bring forward the Birmingham to Crewe section of the route six years ahead of schedule, to bring the benefits of HS2 further north by 2027.
The main civils packages of this Phase 2a project will be split into seven lots for a total project value of £6.4 billion. The procurement timeline now envisages
invitations to tender in Spring 2016, followed by the award of contracts later in 2016 or early 2017.
Extending the benefits of high speed rail to the major interchange at Crewe will cut what was a 90-minute journey to London to 55minuteswhencompletedin2027.Also, when Phase 2 opens in 2033, Manchester willbeconnecteddirectlytoLondonvia dedicated high speed rail rather than relying on local services via Crewe.
The following companies are appointed to advance the delivery of Phase 2a:
• Ove Arup & Partners (civils and
environmental services)
• WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff (railway
systems)
• Mouchel (site access, and stakeholder
engagement services)
The winning firms will also assist HS2 prepare a second hybrid bill to the UK Parliament to provide the necessary statutory powers.
Bringing forward this part of the project will create a major transport hub at Crewe and allowing HS2 services to continue to Liverpool, Manchester and further north using existing lines.
Trans-Pennine link
In addition to new rail connections, an ambitious plan to build what would be one of the longest highway tunnels in the world are outlined in a UK Government study into the feasibility of an east-west trans- Pennine underground link connecting the major cities of Manchester and Sheffield.
According to an interim report published by Highways England on behalf of the UK Department of Transport, a twin bore tunnel of up to 15m in diameter and between 20km and 30km long is envisaged for the central section of a 40km to 50km link between the two cities. Each tunnel bore would accommodate a minimum of two lanes.
To benefit from synergies with current proposals for a trans-Pennine rail link, which would link the two separate arms of the UK’s proposed HS2 programme, a heavy rail link along a similar alignment is also suggested. This could mean four separate tunnels of total length between 80km and 120km.
The Pennines between Manchester and Sheffield and within the protected Peak District National Park, act as a road and rail choke point for connections between a range of large towns and cities across the north of England and north Wales, including Liverpool, Leeds, Hull, Chester, Warrington and Bradford. A road tunnel is considered strategically important if the underdeveloped region is to fully benefit from the UK’s £50 million HS2 program, which does not currently include a cross-Pennines link to address the problem. n
References
• UK HS3 plan for trans-Pennine link - TunnelTalk, June 2014
• Examining a UK east-west high speed rail strategy - TunnelTalk, October 2014
• Speed up delivery to cut costs’ says HS2
boss - TunnelTalk, March 2014
• HS2 announces TBM and procurement
strategy - TunnelTalk, October 2014 www.TunnelTalk.com
Major bored and cut-and-cover tunnels for HS2 Phase 1 London–Birmingham
table 1. Shortlisted contractors for three enabling works packages
Contractor JV
South
lot/package
Central
north
BBv Jv (Balfour Beatty/ vinci/vinci UK/ vinci Construction Terrassement)
•
•
•
CEK Jv (Carrillion/ Eiffage/ Kier)
Costain/Skanska Jv
•
•
•
•
lM Jv (laing O’Rourke/ J. Murphy & Sons)
•
•
•
Morgan Sindall/ BAM/ Ferrovial Jv
•
•
•
Align Jv (Bouygues/ Sir Robert McAlpine/ Morrison Utility Services/ volkerfitzpatrick)
•
Momentum infrastructure Jv (Galliford Try infrastructure/ Hochtief/ Dragados)
•
8
TunnelTalk AnnuAl Review 2015
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
PREVIEW