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Balfour BeattyAnnouncement

06/09/2014 20:23

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RNS Number : 0436N
Balfour Beatty PLC
23 July 2014 
 
23 July 2014 
 
BALFOUR BEATTY AWARDED £129 MILLION UK 'SMART MOTORWAY' SCHEME TO UPGRADE M3 
 
Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, today announces the
award of a £129 million scheme to upgrade a 13 mile stretch of the M3 through
Hampshire and Surrey to a 'smart motorway'.  The upgrade, for the UK
Government's Highways Agency, will increase capacity, reduce congestion and
shorten journey times for the 120,000 motorists who pass through this part of
the network every day. 
 
The M3 between Junction 2 (interchange with the M25) and Junction 4a (Fleet)
will be upgraded to a four-lane motorway by converting the hard shoulder to a
permanent running lane.  Electronic signs, operated by a regional control
centre, will be installed to manage the flow of traffic in response to driving
conditions. 
 
Mobilisation work is due to start at the beginning of August.  Main
construction works starts this autumn with completion scheduled for spring
2017.  Construction activity will include installing and refurbishing
gantries, new static and variable signs, concrete safety barriers, drainage
and surfacing works. 
 
The contract is the latest in a series awarded to Balfour Beatty since the
company joined through the Highways Agency's National Major Projects Framework
in 2010.  In June 2014, Balfour Beatty was awarded the £184 million M60 J8 to
M62 J20 smart motorway scheme.  In April 2014 the company's construction joint
venture with Skanska completed upgrading a 12 mile stretch of the M25 to a
smart motorway, and in January 2014 Balfour Beatty completed upgrading parts
of the M4 and M5 to a smart motorway in a £88 million scheme. 
 
Balfour Beatty Executive Chairman Steve Marshall said: " 
 
T 
 
he Highways Agency's approach to using technology in this way 
 
reduces the costs of the road network, 
 
provides additional capacity and improves journey times.  This award further
strengthens our position as one of the UK's leading contractors for s 
 
mart 
 
motorways and 
 
reflects the strength of the relationship we have built with the Highways
Agency over the last 20 years." 
 
The M3 passes through Chobham Common, one of the largest areas of heathland in
Surrey, and Balfour Beatty's sustainable design will take into account
ecological considerations with natural habitats reinstated and enhanced. 
 
ENDS 
 
Analyst/investor enquiries: 
 
Anoop Kang 
 
Tel. +44 (0)20 7216 6913 
 
anoop.kang@balfourbeatty.com 
 
Media enquiries: 
 
Dominic Cheetham 
 
Tel. +44 (0)20 7963 4235 
 
dominic.cheetham@balfourbeatty.com 
 
Notes to editors: 
 
·     Balfour Beatty is a leading road designer, constructor, asset manager
and maintenance provider in the UK. Projects carried out include traditional
work through to the more complex design-build-finance-operate (DBFO), smart
motorway and early contractor involvement (ECI) schemes. Since 2009 Balfour
Beatty has been in partnership with Skanska, Atkins and Egis to deliver the
£6.2 billion M25 DBFO project for the Highways Agency, including the widening
of the motorway to four lanes and conversion to all-lane running, or 'smart'
technology. 
 
·     Other schemes delivered recently include the £371 million A3 Hindhead
Tunnel, the £88 million M4/M5 'smart motorway' scheme and the £360 million A46
Newark to Widmerpool Improvement Scheme. Balfour Beatty also  operates the
strategic road network on behalf of the Highways Agency in Area 4 (Kent,
Surrey and East Sussex) and Area 10 (Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside), and
operates the latest generation road technology maintenance contracts (RTMC),
for the Highways Agency in the North West and the Midlands. 
 
·     Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is an international
infrastructure group that delivers world class services essential to the
development, creation and care of infrastructure assets; from finance and
development, through design and project management to construction and
maintenance. Our businesses draw on more than 100 years of experience to
deliver the highest levels of quality, safety and technical expertise to our
clients principally in the UK and the USA, with developing businesses in
Australia, Canada, the Middle East, South Africa and South East Asia. 
 
With proven expertise in delivering infrastructure critical to support
communities and society today and in the future, our key market sectors focus
on infrastructure - transportation (roads, rail and aviation), power and
energy, water, and complex buildings (both commercial and social). Balfour
Beatty employs 40,000 people around the world. 
 
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange