Partner Article

Balfour Beatty Jones Bros joint venture awarded £65.5 million Caernarfon to Bontnewydd bypass

Balfour Beatty Jones Bros, a 50:50 joint venture between the two infrastructure companies, has been awarded a £65.5 million contract to design and construct the 9.8km Caernarfon to Bontnewydd bypass in North Wales.

The project for the Welsh Government will realign the A487 to improve journey time reliability and help economic development in the Arfon area.

The joint venture is committed to investing locally and it has an aim that 75 per cent of the money invested on the scheme will reach local Welsh suppliers.

The Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) contract includes a requirement to assist the Welsh Government with statutory processes including public consultation.

Subject to the completion of all these statutory processes and any public inquiry, construction is expected to start in late 2016 with completion by the end of 2018.

The bypass will be single carriageway and will have alternating two lanes in one direction and a single lane in the other.

It will involve the construction of 22 structures, including seven bridges.

These include a crossing over the Welsh Highland Railway, a 300m viaduct over the Afon Seiont and a 280m viaduct over the Afon Gwyrfai and its flood plains.

The joint venture will start work this month taking the scheme through the design and planning stages. This will include public exhibitions and discussions with the project’s public liaison team, to provide accurate information relating to the scheme.

As part of the statutory process it is likely that a public inquiry will be held in the middle off 2016.

The joint venture will also be responsible for the aftercare of the landscape planting for a period of five years, following main works completion.

Computer-generated 3D visualisation modeling will be used in the public consultation process. It will also be used to help deliver an efficient scheme through a diverse supply chain and for high-quality maintenance after the scheme is complete.

Huw Jones, Managing Director of Jones Bros, said: “This is fantastic news for our local workforce and North Wales suppliers. It will provide many benefits to the region’s economy.

“Jones Bros operates on infrastructure, renewables and land remediation projects across the UK, and we are delighted to have won a contract of such significance right on our doorstep.

“This will be the fourth time we’ve worked in a joint venture partnership with Balfour Beatty on a major contract, having delivered the award-winning Porthmadog bypass ahead of schedule and with work currently under way on the Pen-y- Cymoedd Wind Energy Project, the UK’s biggest on-shore wind farm in England and Wales, and the Clyde wind farm extension We now look forward to starting work together on this latest project.”

Mark Farrah, Balfour Beatty Regional Managing Director, North and Midlands, said: “We have worked with the Welsh Government previously in delivering similar schemes at the Porthmadog bypass and Gelligemlyn upgrade works recently.

“Together and through our long and successful relationship with Jones Bros we will deliver a scheme which offers huge benefits to the local economy during and after its construction.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .