Costain hands over proposal for Gerrards X

Tesco has now received Costain's report into design solutions for its proposed £25m store at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, following the partial collapse of a 320m-long rail tunnel at the site in June last year.

Costain was asked to draw up the report by Tesco after the retail giant removed Jackson Civil Engineering from its contract to provide a cut-and-cover tunnel over the rail line to make way for the construction of the new store.

The report is expected to draw up alternative construction approaches following lessons learnt from the incident.

A Tesco spokeswoman confirmed that the company had received Costain's report, but was unwilling to comment on its findings and the timetable for what would happen next. "It has yet to go to our board for a read-through," she said.

[Contract Journal, 9 August 2006, p. 1]