Six line up for £250m Staffs highways deal

Staffordshire County Council has lined up six firms to pitch for a highways term maintenance deal, potentially worth up to £250m.

JDM/Accord is the council's present incumbent and will be hoping for a second term of at least five years when it contests the project this time around.

Hoping to put an end to JDM/Accord's run are Carillion, WS Atkins, Ringway, Raynesway and Alfred McAlpine.

The council will award the deal in December and it will become effective next April. The scheme is worth up to £25m a year and will initially run for five years.

But the council is offering an option to extend the contract in increments of one year up to 2014, depending on performance.

Staffordshire wants to develop a longer-term relationship with the winning contractor and its suppliers to develop what it calls "integrated teams to increase efficiency, reduce waste and develop innovative solutions".

The scope of the contract includes routine highway maintenance and winter maintenance, bridge strengthening, structural carriageway maintenance and resurfacing.

The council is responsible for 650km of principal roads, 5,000km of other roads, plus more than 1,000 bridges.