NEWSBRIEF

Consortium wins £200m PFI road project

The £200m PFI A13 Thames Gateway project has gone to a consortium comprising AMEC, Alfred McAlpine, Halliburton Brown and Root, and Dragados, the Highways Agency has announced. The 30-year contract consists of the operation and maintenance of 13 miles of road stretching from the City to Wennington and includes an estimated £146m of new construction. Work is expected to start later this year and be completed by 2005/6.

Railtrack's modernisation plans due

Railtrack is due to announce further details of its West Anglia Route Modernisation project next Wednesday (19 April). The project will modernise the route between Bethnal Green in east London and Elsenham in north west Essex and include lines to Stansted Airport, Chingford, Enfield Town and Hertford East. An alliance to deliver the project has also been formed comprising Railtrack, Westinghouse, Amec Spie Rail, Alfred McAlpine and Grantrail. Work has already started on phase one, the Hackney Downs area.

HLM and communications company to merge

HLM Architects, is proposing to merge with marketing and communications group Osprey Communications to offer a full architectural branding and communications service. It is also changing its name to RockArchimedia.

New orders in construction on the up

Construction new orders in the three months to February 2000 were just under 6% higher than the preceding three-month period, DETR figures have revealed. New orders in the private housing sector in the three months were 7% higher compared with the previous period and 12% higher than in the corresponding period a year ago. Public housing and housing association orders in three months were 33% lower compared with the previous three months and 4% lower than in the same period a year earlier.

Barkbury sets £65m turnover target

Building group Barkbury, parent company of Sol Construction, has acquired Warwick-based construction group Crosbee and Atkins for an undisclosed sum. The group now has 300 employees and a projected annual turnover of over £65m.

Scottish Parliament building go-ahead

The project to build a new Scottish Parliament building on the Holyrood site in Edinburgh is to go ahead despite a report by first minister Donald Dewar being criticised for misleading MSPs about the cost. The bill has soared from £109m last June to an estimated £195m.

Lafarge/Blue Circle bid gets condition

The European Commission announced on Monday that Lafarge's hostile bid for Blue Circle can go ahead subject to the condition that Lafarge divest its roofing tile business in Denmark to avoid creating a group with 90% market share. The prospect of a reshaped UK market did not worry the Commission (see Business, page 13).

SIX SELECTED FOR WELSH WATER WORK

Hyder has selected six strategic partners to deliver a major part of its £600m investment programme to carry out water and sewerage infrastructure work in Wales. The companies selected for the five-year programme are Laing, Galliford, Amec, Morrison Construction, Paterson Candy and Meica Process. They were chosen for their proven track records in delivering water industry investment schemes, extensive experience in successful partnering projects and for their innovative approach and range of skills and resources.