Costain and Balfour JVs win Thames 'super sewer' contracts

Separate joint ventures led by infrastructure group Balfour Beatty and engineer Costain have won around £1bn worth of contracts to carry out construction of the major Thames Tideway Tunnel sewer in London.

FTSE 250 infrastructure investor International Public Partnerships has also committed to invest up to £210m in the project, which is designed to support London's projected population for at least the next 100 years, tackling discharges of untreated sewage that currently enter the River Thames on a regular basis.

Balfour Beatty's joint venture with Morgan Sindall and BAM Nuttall has been awarded the £416m contract to the West section of the 'super sewer' for Bazalgette Tunnel Ltd.

Costain's consortium, of which it has a 40% share, have won the £605m East section of the sewer, with the project to begin immediately and is expected to complete in 2023.

The project, which is part of the largest ever undertaken by the UK water industry, is expected to create more than 9,000 direct and indirect jobs at the peak of construction

Costain will work with the UK subsidiaries of two French-owned companies, VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche Ltd.

"The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a major new sewer, urgently needed to protect the tidal River Thames from pollution and to modernise London's Victorian sewerage network for the 21st century, underpinning and enhancing economic prosperity," Costain said.

"It is a large complex programme which addresses an urgent need to help ensure London is provided with a safe and environmentally sustainable water infrastructure."

Costain chief executive Andrew Wyllie said the contract win reflected the company's ability to provide "the breadth of skills and capabilities necessary for these major schemes, and our ability to operate safely as part of a collaborative integrated team".

International Public Partnerships said it now has a 15.99% stake in the project, which has a design life of 120 years and is expected to provide yield to its investors for the whole of this period.