French firm pulls out of Forth bridge consortium

Published on Sunday 1 August 2010 16:01

A BRIDGE builder has pulled out of a consortium bidding for the £2 billion new Forth crossing contract.

French company Vinci Construction Grands Projets was one of four partners in Forthspan, which is competing with one other group for the new bridge and road links at Queensferry,

It has been replaced by Danish firm MT Hojgaard, which was part of a consortium which built the Oresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden.

The Scotsman has already reported industry concerns over whether both consortia will stay the course because of questions over the Scottish Government's ability to fund the bridge.

MSPs have agreed to pay the winning bidder up to 10 million towards tendering costs if the project is scrapped.

However, the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency, which is in charge of the Forth project, said such changes were "not uncommon".

The two groups were given the go-ahead to bid last November, with the winner to be announced next spring.

Vinci declined to comment, but industry sources have told The Scotsman it is believed to relate to the firm deciding to pursue other contracts instead.

A spokesman for Forthspan, also comprising UK construction giant Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall and BAM Nuttall, said: "Forthspan remains committed to continued participation in the procurement process for the Forth Replacement Crossing."

Forthspan, formed a year ago, is competing against the Forth Crossing Constructors Group - Scottish firm Morrison Construction, Hochtief, American Bridge International and Dragados.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "The competition for the principal contract to deliver the crossing remains on track and we expect to award the contract in spring 2011.

"Forthspan recently notified us of a change in the membership of its consortium with the replacement of Vinci with MT Hojgaard. We have carefully assessed its proposals for remaining in the competition and this due diligence has confirmed the Forthspan bid continues to meet the qualification requirements for the process.

"Changes to groupings and consortia during procurement are not uncommon."