Three shortlisted for £600m Mersey Bridge scheme

THREE consortia have made the shortlist to win the £600m project to build the Mersey Gateway bridge.

The shortlisted bidders include a Balfour Beatty-led team including French group Bouygues and Egis Projects, the Merseylink Consortium and the MGL consortium.

The trio have been shortlisted by Halton Borough Council from an initial shortlist of six. They will now be invited to compete for a design, build, finance and operate contract to build the bridge and establish a new toll road on the Mersey between Runcurn and Widnes.

Cllr Rob Polhill, leader of Halton Borough Council, said: “We have attracted world-class construction groups that have come together to compete for this prestigious contract. I look forward to announcing the eventual winner and the commencement of construction later next year.”

Steve Nicholson, Mersey Gateway project director, said: “We were delighted with the quality and the quantity of the submissions we received. Each of the six groups we evaluated met our requirements but we set out to limit the procurement process to three bidding groups and we have maintained this approach so that we can reduce bid costs whilst running an effective competition.”  

The Merseylink consortium is made up up Australian bank Macquarie Capital, Bilfinger Berger Project Investments, Vialia Sociedad Gestora de Concesiones de Infraestructuras and FCC Construcción.

The MGL consortium consists of Galliford Try, Hochtief PPP Solutions and Iridium.