---
title: "CP2821-26 Study of Carbon Sequestration and Soil Health Impacts within Highway Earthworks"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-07813a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07813a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07813a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07813a.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Tender"
buyer: "Devon County Council"
published: "2026-10-06"
---

# CP2821-26 Study of Carbon Sequestration and Soil Health Impacts within Highway Earthworks

Buyer: Devon County Council  
Current stage: Tender  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-07813a

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## Summary

Devon County Council is seeking research services to study how highway construction affects soil carbon and soil health, and whether biochar, enhanced mineral weathering and mycorrhizal fungi can improve carbon sequestration and long-term storage. The research supports the council’s A382 Link Road development near Newton Abbot, alongside its work to reduce emissions from highway construction. Findings will concern highway earthworks and the soil in highway verges and associated landscape areas. The work is based in Devon; the project is intended to investigate potential benefits from adding these approaches to traditional highway earthworks.

The buyer invited offers through a below-threshold open competition. The procurement is one lot. The contract period is set from 20 November 2026 to 1 June 2029. The stated budget is £150,000 to £170,000, with a maximum estimated value of £170,000 excluding VAT (£204,000 including VAT). Enquiries were due by 23 October 2026 at midnight, and bids by 30 October 2026 at 12 noon. Award is based on a price and quality assessment: price is the total cost in the pricing schedule, while quality is assessed against the tender documentation. The council states that the assessment details and participation criteria are set out in that documentation.

This opportunity is suited to research providers able to investigate soil carbon and soil health in the context of highway earthworks. Relevant capability includes assessing construction impacts on soil carbon levels and evaluating biochar, enhanced mineral weathering and mycorrhizal fungi as potential additions to conventional earthworks. Suppliers should be able to consider carbon sequestration, soil improvement and longer-term carbon storage in highway verges and associated landscape areas. The project will interest businesses with expertise at the intersection of environmental research, soils and infrastructure construction. Small and medium-sized enterprises are identified as suitable to compete. The work concerns a specific road development and a focused study rather than delivery of the road construction itself.

## Notice

Devon County Council (DCC), is delivering the A382 Link Road Development near Newton Abbot, Devon. In addition to the main scheme, additional funding has been made available through the ADEPT Live Labs 2: Decarbonising Local Roads programme to fund carbon reduction measures on the project. The scheme seeks not only to improve highway safety, network resilience and traffic flow, but also to demonstrate innovative approaches to reducing and removing carbon emissions from highway construction activities. As part of the project's carbon-negative aspirations, DCC wishes to investigate the impact of construction activities on soil carbon levels and the potential benefits of incorporating biochar, enhanced mineral weathering and mycorrhizal fungi into traditional highway earthworks operations. Emerging research suggests that these products may increase carbon sequestration rates, improve soil health and increase long-term carbon storage within highway verges and associated landscape areas. The budget available is between PS150,000 and PS170,000 further details on the cost strategy are given in the documentation.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094037-2026 |
| Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - open competition |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Tender |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 6 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 30 Oct 2026 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 20 Nov 2026 - 1 Jun 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £170,000 |
| Lots value | £170,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Devon County Council |
| Locality | EXETER |
| Postcode area | Exeter |
| Postcode | EX2 4QD |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK4 Devon |
| ITL 3 | TLK43 Devon CC |
| Local authority | Exeter |
| Electoral ward | Newtown and St Leonard's |
| Westminster constituency | Exeter |
| Delivery location | TLK43 Devon CC |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73110000 - Research services

## Release History

- 6 Oct 2026 at 08:23 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094037-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094037-2026
  6th October 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.devon.gov.uk
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk

## 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-07813a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07813a.json.