Four vie for £320m Area 14 MAC scheme

Three rivals are vying to topple the present incumbent from its perch on a roads maintenance deal in the North East worth up to £320m.

A joint venture of Sir Robert McAlpine in tandem with consultant Scott Wilson, plus solo bidders Balfour Beatty and Atkins are striving to oust Colas from the Managing Agent Contractor (MAC) Area 14 scheme.

It is understood that this time around, Colas will be defending its position as part of the A1-Plus group, which also features Costain and consultant Halcrow.

The Highways Agency (HA) estimates the job to be worth up to £40m a year over its initial five-year contract period.

But depending on the performance of the winning contractor, the contract is likely to be extended to a total of eight years in one-yearly increments.

The winner of the contest is expected to surface early in 2010, with work on site due to kick off at the beginning of next July for completion by the end of June 2015.

The HA will asess the bids giving a 70% weighting to quality and 30% to price.

An insider said: "You'd normally expect the present incumbent to be odds-on favourite to win the job again, but in these days of cut-throat bidding, nothing is a foregone conclusion."

The Area 14 MAC covers motorways and A-roads in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and North Yorkshire and includes improvement schemes up to £1m in value.