Third River Crossing contractor announced

BAM Nuttall and Farrans Construction are joining forces to work on the final design and construction of the bridge, which will link the A47 at Harfrey’s Roundabout on the western side of the river with South Denes Road and the port (including the outer harbour) and Enterprise Zone on the eastern side.

Following a competitive tender process, BAM Farrans will now be working with the project team at the county council to finalise the detailed design and construction requirements for the bridge.

Councillor Martin Wilby, Chair of Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee, says: ‘I’m delighted that we’ll be working with BAM Farrans to bring the Third River Crossing to Great Yarmouth.  This joint venture between two industry leaders means the project will benefit from a wealth of skills and knowledge, and an excellent track record of delivering large-scale infrastructure projects. This is an important milestone in our work to build the new bridge, which will bring far-reaching benefits to the town as well as Norfolk and the wider local, regional and national economy.’

John Boal, BAM Nuttall’s Divisional Director, Southern England & Wales and David Parr, Civil Engineering Director, Farrans Construction, are members of the BAM Farrans Joint Venture Management Board and responded to the announcement: ‘The BAM Farrans Joint Venture is excited to be involved in a project which is going to have such a positive impact on people and businesses in Great Yarmouth. Together we have an award-winning track record of working on successful projects of national importance and look forward to working collaboratively with Norfolk County Council and other stakeholders to deliver this strategic piece of infrastructure for the town and the East of England.’

Councillor Graham Plant, Leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: ‘Following the public consultation, this is an exciting and important next step in delivering this crucial infrastructure, which will bring significant benefits for residents, businesses and visitors, through improving traffic flows, helping to create thousands of jobs and unlocking further business, regeneration and growth opportunities. The Government has already committed £98m towards the Third River Crossing, approved the outline business case and recognised it as a nationally significant infrastructure project.  This is a huge vote of confidence in both the local and regional economies, and I look forward to the design being finalised with the contractors and the application for Development Consent being submitted.’

Following appointment of the contractor and the close of the Stage 3 public consultation at the beginning of December, the overall project remains on programme. The application for Development Consent is due to be submitted in the spring, with a public examination expected later this year and construction due to start on site towards the end of next year.

BAM Farrans has developed a twin leaf bascule bridge design with the counterweights below-deck. The finalised design details will be confirmed when submission of the Development Consent Order is made to the Planning Inspectorate in the spring.  These details will also take into account the feedback received from the recently completed consultation process.

So far, £98 million of funding from the Department for Transport has been awarded to Norfolk County Council towards the anticipated £120 million cost of the project.

For more information about the Third River Crossing, please visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/3rc.