Stonehenge Tunnel: contract award in doubt
1 December 2021Stonehenge Tunnel – The project re-examined by the Secretary of State for Transport following the cancellation of the building permit.
Contract award on hold
Planning permission for the £1.7 billion road project was quashed by the High Court in July after a challenge from heritage campaigners. The court ruled that transport secretary Grant Shapps had not properly considered alternative projects and had not shown sufficient evidence of consideration of its various impacts on heritage.
In August, the Planning Inspectorate said the development consent order had been rescinded and that Shapps, the state’s transport secretary, should reconsider the project.
National Highways confirmed to CN that, while it has continued its evaluation process, it will not award contracts until the government reconsiders the project.
Derek Parody, its project manager for the A303 Stonehenge project, said contracting is underway, but added: “The Secretary of State for Transport has indicated his intention to reconsider the planning application for the project, and in the meantime it is difficult to set a timetable for the announcement of contracts.”
Shortly after the decision, National Highways said it would continue with its contracting plans to “ensure that the program timelines are met as closely as possible.”
Grant Shapps, is currently “reconsidering” his decision on National Highways’ planning application for the Stonehenge tunnel. In the meantime, National Highways must focus on bringing carbon and climate change information, among other things, to the Secretary of State as soon as possible.
An extraordinary site
The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) has previously called for a longer tunnel. In 2017, CBA Director Mike Hepworth said the proposed western entrance to the tunnel was close to some important burial sites.
“Just moving the west end three or four hundred yards would make a huge difference in not damaging key views and relationships that are important to understanding the landscape,” he said. “This is one of the most important monuments in the world and we have a responsibility to preserve it for future generations.”
Indeed, new analysis shows that the 20 or so excavations uncovered in 2020 by archaeologists near the Stonehenge megalithic site had been shaped by humans, dating back to more than 2,400 years BC. This confirms once again the extraordinary heritage value of the site.
The contractors in the running
A main contractor was to be selected in early 2022, while a £60 million delivery insurance consultant was to be appointed by the end of 2021.
In 2020, National Highways appointed three JVs from a shortlist for the project’s main works contract and launched the procurement process for its delivery insurance partner contract.
The three JVs in the running are: BMJV (Bouygues and Murphy), HDJV (Hochtief and Dragados) and MORE JV (FCC Construcción, Salini Impregilo and BeMo Tunnelling UK).
The project is however essential
The A303 Stonehenge project involved the construction of a 13 km two-lane road between Amesbury and Berwick Down, including a 3.3 km tunnel section, passing under the historic site of Stonehenge. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 2027, with the main contractor then taking over maintenance for five years.
National Highways says it is confident that “the project offers the best possible solution to traffic problems along this notoriously congested stretch of the A303, and to remove the sight and sound of traffic from the Stonehenge landscape and World Heritage Site.”
Groups, including the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the British Archaeological Trust, said the project would be “the largest human intervention ever” in an area revered for thousands of years and called for the deep tunnel to be at least 4.5 km long to protect the landscape.
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