Balfour Beatty, an international infrastructure group, said its joint venture with top construction firm Carillion has been selected by Highways England to deliver a £292-million ($450 million) construction package to upgrade the A14 between Swavesey and Milton as part of the wider A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme.

The joint venture has been selected for the construction package to widen a critical and complex 10-mile stretch of the existing A14, said a statement from Balfour Beatty.

The scope of works will include the widening of existing road sections between Swavesey to Girton, including the Girton Junction with the M11 Motorway and the Cambridge Northern Bypass. The project will also require major junction rebuilds and numerous services diversions.

The wider Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, to which the government has pledged a £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion) investment, is subject to statutory approval.

The scheme will be delivered through an integrated delivery team comprising of a number of contractor joint ventures, designers and Highways England employees.

Ths is the second construction joint venture to be appointed for the A14 and will work collaboratively with all parties to input to the detailed design and pre-construction planning.

Main construction work is due to start in late 2016 with the new bypass and widened A14 opening to traffic in 2020.

On the win, Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group chief executive said: "This is a complex project and our joint venture brings proven expertise and experience in working as part of an integrated delivery model - something which is going to be crucial for the successful delivery of this project."

"The improvements the scheme will deliver will help to relieve congestion on one of the busiest parts of the strategic road network between the Midlands and East Anglia and support national and regional economic growth," he added.-TradeArabia News Service