Network Rail has awarded £300 million of framework agreements for civil examinations and assessments of its infrastructure for the next five years.
Amey has emerged as the major winner in the procurement process, winning a single-supplier, zero-value framework to cover civil examinations across the entire network, with the exception of the London North Western route which will deliver its examinations programme using in-house teams. Amey was already Network Rail's sole supplier of civil examinations and has also won significant work on the rail structure assessments part of the framework.
Five zero-value assessments frameworks have been agreed to cover each of Network Rail's routes. Anglia along with the London North Eastern and East Midlands route have both been awarded to Aecom and Amey; Kent to Amey; London North Western to Aecom, SKM and Opus; Scotland goes to Aecom; and Sussex, Wales, Wessex and Western all go to WSP.
Amey's work on the civil assessments involves monitoring the condition of railway infrastructure including culverts, bridges - including the Forth Rail Bridge -, viaducts, stations and tunnels. Round the clock response to incidents like bridge strikes or railway related accidents is part of the contract. Some 500 asset engineering specialists are deployed by Amey to carry out this work.
Network Rail's director of contracts and procurement, Ian Sexton, said: “Monitoring the condition of our infrastructure - including bridges, tunnels, embankments and culverts - is a vital part of keeping Britain's railways safe.
“By working with these trusted suppliers over the next five years we can continue to improve and build on the knowledge we have of our network.”
Amey chief executive Mel Ewell said: “Continuing our successful examinations and assessments relationship with Network Rail is great news for our business.
“The scope of the new contracts spanning the next five years builds on Amey's and Network Rail's track record of strong performance by making better use of technology and introducing more efficient ways of working.”
Photo: Amey
