DBFO contest hots up

As the Highways Agency prepares to let the first tranche of Design, Build, Finance, and Operate (DBFO) road contracts later this year, it has emerged that UK contractors will face stiff competition from consultants and overseas companies which want to lead bidding consortia.

Sources close to the Agency have told CJ: 'We expected a contractor-led approach, but other elements, including consultants and international engineering firms, have surprised us by their interest in promoting DBFO schemes.'

The fight to be in the vanguard of the DBFO initiative (whereby firms are paid over a period of years according to how much traffic uses the completed road) is becoming intensive.

This week Balfour Beatty beefed up its challenge by teaming up with Bank of America, and Fitzpatrick too is looking for a financial partner.

Amec, however, says it already has links with a number of financial institutions and will assemble bespoke design and finance elements of its bids according to individual contracts. Wimpey and Kier are also looking at this approach.

Meanwhile Maunsell is one consultant considering taking a lead role itself in DBFO bidding. Chief executive Peter Jarvis says: 'At the moment it is just an idea and we are awaiting a response. But we have to think carefully about tying ourselves to a single contractor. It's doubtful any one firm could win enough work to fully exploit our considerable consultancy resources.'

The rewards for the winners will be high - as the latest list of six top projects sent to contractors by DoT consultants Hambros and Price Waterhouse reveals.

Three priority 1 schemes have been joined into one œ250 million package. They are the M1/M62 Lofthouse interchange diversion, M1-A1 link road (itself worth œ150 million) and the A1(M) Hook Moor upgrading.

Another three schemes on the A419/A417 around Cirencester now form one œ50 million package.

The other four contracts are the œ80 million Alconbury - Peterborough A1(M) upgrading; the œ40 million A435 Studley bypass; the œ50 million A120 Stansted - Braintree; and the œ10 million Haltwhistle bypass.