Three HA road contracts up for grabs

The Highways Agency is providing a glut of new roadwork in the shape of three more early contractor involvement (ECI) contracts, which were advertised in the OJEU last week.

The move follows the advertisement of the two grouped North East ECI packages, worth a total of £105m, the week before.

The forst of the latest schemes is the £84.7m A1 Morpeth to Felton improvement in Northumberland, which has been pulled out of the North West package ahead of the other two schemes in the grouping. Work involves upgrading 12.4km of existing carriageway to dual carriageway, along with a new structure to span the valley of the River Coquet.

The second scheme comprises two projects: the £36m A23 Handcross to Warninglid improvement in West Sussex; and the £19m A27 Southerham to Beddingham improvement in East Sussex.

Work on the A27 involves widening 2.3km of existing carriageway to wide-single carriageway and a bridge over the Lewes to Eastbourne railway at Beddingham. The A23 job comprises widening 3.8km of dual carriageway to three lanes.

The third project is the £28m A14 Haughley New Street to Stowmarket improvement in Suffolk. Work involves construction of a new 4km-long dual carriageway with a grade separated interchange and side roads.

In addition, the HA has flagged up a further ECI scheme due to be advertised later this year, worth a total of £171.1m. The Cornwall scheme comprises two projects: the £43.6m A30 Temple to Higher Carblake project; and the £127.5m A30 Carland Cross to Chiverton Cross project. Both involve upgrading sections of single carriageway road to dual carriageway.