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hours on the machine on site with experienced operatives but in an area which wont effect the dreaded program – then this really will leave a legacy High Speed Two (HS2) received parliamentary approval for the first phase of the project in February 2017. Since then HS2 Ltd has started work at various locations along the route, from London to the West Midlands. The initial works are guiding the detailed design of the railway and preparing the way for construction activity. This includes the largest programme of ground investigations that the UK has ever seen. Preparatory works for HS2 also include a major conservation project, a green corridor of connected wildlife habitats that will run alongside the railway. Other important activities at this stage include archaeology investigations, utilities diversions and road improvements. Main construction work, such as the creation of new bridges, viaducts and tunnels will start in 2018/19. HS2 took a step closer to construction with the confirmation of three joint ventures to deliver essential early works – including archaeology, site clearance and setting up construction compounds – ahead of the start of the main civil engineering work. The £900m Enabling Works Contracts cover the whole of Phase One, from London
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UK Plant Operators - Issue 09
to Birmingham and the connection to the West Coast Mainline at Handsacre, with work already begun. The appointed joint ventures are: • Area South - CS JV (Costain Group Plc, Skanska Construction UK Limited) • Area Central – Fusion JV (Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure Ltd, BAM Nuttall Limited, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Limited) • Area North - LM JV (Laing O’Rourke Construction Limited, J. Murphy & Sons Limited) As well as archaeology, site clearance and establishing site compounds, the contractors will also deliver a range of activities including utility diversions, ecology surveys, demolition, ground remediation, watercourse activities, highways realignments, monitoring and instrumentation, structural reinforcements and drainage work. Four consortiums have been picked by HS2 to deliver the seven civils works packages which make up phase one of the £55.7bn line from London to Birmingham. Costain / Skanska / Strabag, Balfour Beatty / Vinci and Carillion / Kier / Eiffage were the big winners, scooping two pack-
ages each, while Bouygues / Sir Robert McAlpine / VolkerFitzpatrick secured the remaining package. Bam Nuttall / Morgan Sindall / Ferrovial, Laing O’Rourke / FCC / Murphy, Acciona / Sisk / Lagan Construction Group, Hochtief / Dragados / Galliford Try and Bechtel were the firms to miss out. Main Construction of the line is expected to begin in 2019. Skanska / Costain / Strabag landed both southern packages, being chosen for the Euston tunnels and approaches package, worth £740m, and the Northolt Tunnels package. Carillion / Kier / Eiffage have dominated the central packages, picking up the C2 North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley and the C3 Brackley to Long Itchington Wood Green south portal. Balfour Beatty / Vinci won both packages for the northern section of the line, landing the Wood Green tunnel to Delta Junction / Birmingham Spur package and the Delta Junction to West Coast Main Line package. The Align JV, made up of Bouygues, Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick, secured one package: the Chiltern Tunnel and Colne viaduct worth £965m. Stage two will see construction of the main works and is expected to take between four and five years to complete.