---
title: "Lower Thames Crossing - Technical Partner"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0301df"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0301df"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0301df.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0301df.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATIONAL HIGHWAYS"
published: "2021-12-15"
---

# Lower Thames Crossing - Technical Partner

Buyer: NATIONAL HIGHWAYS  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0301df

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## Summary

The procurement process is being conducted by National Highways for the project titled "Lower Thames Crossing - Technical Partner". This initiative falls under the civil engineering consultancy services category and addresses critical infrastructure needs in the UK, particularly aimed at enhancing capacity across the Thames Estuary between Essex and Kent. Currently in the Award stage, the contracting process has a total duration of 3600 days, with significant milestones related to the Development Consent Order (DCO) anticipated over time. The award decision was communicated on December 15, 2021, to the selected supplier, Cascade, which is a consortium of CH2M Hill UK, Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd, and COWI A/S JV.

This tender presents a substantial opportunity for businesses specialising in civil engineering consultancy, transport infrastructure, and related construction services. Companies with proven expertise in large and complex infrastructure projects, particularly those experienced in the UK planning environment, will find themselves well-positioned to compete. With the potential value of the project estimated between £5.3 billion to £6.8 billion, businesses that demonstrate strong leadership, technical capabilities, and comprehensive understanding of design and construction processes for significant engineering works will be particularly suited for participation in this procurement.

### Lot Information

Lower Thames Crossing - Technical Partner

The Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) is a new road crossing of the Thames Estuary, east of London, between Essex and Kent with new infrastructure and operational arrangements to increase capacity and improve resilience on the Strategic Road Network. The existing Dartford-Thurrock crossing provides a vital link for many business travellers, haulage companies and holidaymakers travelling to and from Europe via the English Channel, as well as linking communities both north and south of the Thames. However, over recent years traffic volumes have increased and the crossing now regularly exceeds its original design capacity of 135 000 vehicles a day. Congestion and delay are major problems, and conditions are expected to get worse in future. The LTC is a technically challenging project and we are looking for a Technical Partner to provide leading expertise in the key disciplines outlined below in order to ensure successful delivery of this high profile project. This project gives a potential supplier the chance to be involved in a team who are working to deliver a PS5.3 to PS6.8bn scheme which will be one of National Highways' biggest projects. The Technical Partner will need to demonstrate extensive experience in the development and delivery of large complex transport infrastructure schemes in the current UK planning environment. This includes being able to provide strong leadership, excellent technical capability and proven expertise in the design of and construction of large bridges, immersed tube and bored tunnels. This is a long term appointment, and is required to support an accelerated delivery schedule. The successful Technical Partner will be required to work in collaboration with multiple partners to; - Provide and demonstrate expertise in all relevant river crossing types in order to accelerate the delivery schedule and able to provide all required capabilities without compromise. - Provide design leadership and technical expertise in the preparation of preliminary designs (including surveys and sampling), Environmental Impact assessments (EIA) and other technical documentation to support an application for the relevant permissions / consents. - Manage the pre-application engagement with the Planning Inspectorate (PIN) and develop / manage the application (likely to be a Development Consent Order (DCO)) including technical stakeholder engagement and pre-application consultation process. - Progress the procurement of its works contractor or multiple contractors in parallel with the completion and submission of a DCO application. Provide a seamless transition in to delivery immediately following award of the DCO and the associated consents. - Provide assurance, supervision and coordination of the activities of contractors. - Ensure liaison with Network Operations and assure the technical elements of the Delivery Phase (Design and Construction). - Develop illustrative / reference design proposals to enable procurement of 1 or more main contractors and essential advanced or enabling works regardless of the procurement or funding route.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031336-2021 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 15 Dec 2021 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 5 May 2016 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £370,000,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Not specified |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATIONAL HIGHWAYS |
| Locality | BEDFORD |
| Post town | Milton Keynes |
| Postcode | MK41 7LW |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLH24 Bedford |
| Local authority | Bedford |
| Electoral ward | Harpur |
| Westminster constituency | Bedford |
| Delivery location | TLI London |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | CASCADE MADE UP OF CH2M HILL UK / HYDER CONSULTING (UK) LTD / COWI A/S JV |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

### Codes

- 71310000 - Consultative engineering and construction services
- 71311000 - Civil engineering consultancy services
- 71320000 - Engineering design services
- 71500000 - Construction-related services

## Release History

- 15 Dec 2021 at 22:45 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031336-2021

## Notice URLs

- https://nationalhighways.co.uk/
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:174494-2016:TEXT:EN:HTML

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0301df. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0301df.json.