An AECOM, Murphy and Kier joint venture (AMK) has been awarded a £177 million contract by Thames Water for a rebuild of Deephams sewage treatment works, one of London’s largest.
Most of Deephams, located near Picketts Lock, Edmonton, in north east London, was built in the 1950’s and 1960’s and needs improvements to ensure that it meets stricter European environmental standards being introduced from March 2017. The project will also increase the works’ capacity to allow for future population rises, improve the water quality of the River Lee and reduce the intensity and frequency of escaping odours.
Some work will start immediately ahead of a full planning application that is to be submitted in summer 2014. AMK beat off competition from a Laing O’Rourke and Imtech Process joint venture to win the contract, which uses Thames’ Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) procurement approach. Assessment of bids under the Thames process included a ‘behavioural review’ of contractors at organisational as well as project team level.
AMK project director Jo Streeten said: “Upgrading Deephams presents a number of interesting challenges, not least the need to construct new treatment facilities on a site with limited space while maintaining the current operation.
“Working with Thames Water’s ECI process has allowed us to understand these challenges early on and develop a solution that meets them in the most efficient way.”
Thames Water’s asset director Lawrence Gosden said: “This is a key moment for us. We believe our ECI process has resulted in the best possible solution for the upgrade, and after close competition between two very high calibre bidders we’re very pleased to announce the appointment of AMK.”
