All the 30-year contracts between Merseylink and Halton Borough Council have been agreed and the funding is now committed. Halton Council has also announced that the procurement programme has delivered savings of US$416 million under the budget set by government in 2011.
Steve Nicholson, interim chief executive of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board and the project director leading up to financial close, said: “When we set out our procurement approach three years ago we deliberately chose a strategy that would allow our potential private sector partners to innovate, save money for the public purse and add value to the project. Merseylink has delivered on all three fronts and we are excited to be concluding this deal today.”
The centrepiece of the Mersey Gateway project is a new six-lane toll bridge over the River Mersey. The 1,000m-long cable stay bridge will consist of four spans supported from three towers in the estuary. Its 80m-high central tower will be shorter than the two outer towers, which will be 110m (north tower) and 125m (south tower). The total length, including the bridge and approach viaducts, is 2.13km.
The Merseylink consortium’s equity partners are Macquarie Capital Group, Bilfinger Project Investments Europe and FCC Construcción. Construction will be carried out by a joint venture is made up of Kier Infrastructure & Overseas, Samsung C&T Corporation and FCC Construcción.
