Five local firms bidding for M1 Herts upgrade

Five contractors with local connections are to bid for a massive improvement deal on the M1 in Hertfordshire.
Skanska, Laing O'Rourke and Sir Robert McAlpine are all based in the county and are in the hunt for the £200m upgrade of the M1 between junctions 6A and 10.
And two other outfits chasing the deal, Mowlem and Costain, are headquartered in neighbouring Berkshire and pitching as a joint venture.
The "outsiders" shortlisted are: Balfour Beatty, in tandem with Skanska; Morgan Est, which has teamed up with Sir Robert McAlpine; and the familiar joint venture of Amec and Alfred McAlpine. Laing O'Rourke is the only bidder going it alone.
The Highways Agency (HA) is expected to choose its preferred contractor early next year, with work on site on the early contractor involvement scheme due to kick off during autumn 2005.
The task involves widening the M1 to four lanes and constructing parallel link roads between junctions 7 and 8 to cater for local traffic travelling between Hemel Hempstead and St Albans.
Junctions 8, 9 and 10 will be remodelled and environmental measures incorporated, such as noise fences and landscape planting.
Two other mammoth upgrading deals on the M1 are also up for grabs.
Contractors had expected to know earlier this month which of them had made the grade for the £117m improvements at junction 19.
But a project source told CJ: "The project is now being reviewed by the HA at the highest level. I believe the review is not so much about concerns that some contractors could appear on the shortlists for all three projects and worries about capacity, but more to do with the timing of the release of funds."
The third M1 scheme is one of the biggest ever to be rolled out by the HA - the £430m widening of the M1 between junctions 10 and 13, incorporating the A5-M1 link. It is understood that the HA will draw up a list of contractors to pitch for the scheme towards the end of next month.