National Highways‘ Pavement Delivery Framework has confirmed over £1.3bn worth of road surface maintenance works on motorways and major A-roads in England
The new Pavement Delivery Framework agreements will promote low-carbon materials and ensure that small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) deliver a greater share of work.
The contracts cover the supply of materials, plant and labour to carry out National Highways’ road surfacing (“pavement”) and construction works for National Highways’ Operations Division.
£100m of materials, plant and labour will be supplied by SMEs
The new award, the third iteration of National Highways’ Pavement Delivery Framework, is split between nine lots, with 12 suppliers appointed across the framework.
Four of the suppliers are SMEs, which represents an increase in the previous framework, promoting growth in the sector and helping to drive regional investment.
The contracts awarded to SMEs in the new framework account for over 8% of the total anticipated spend, which amounts to over £100m.
National Highways has also incorporated its social value requirements into this framework, which will mean wider benefits for customers and communities.
The selected suppliers on the Pavement Delivery Framework are:
- Aggregate Industries UK Limited
- Associated Asphalt Contracting Limited
- Breedon Colas Limited
- DSD Construction Ltd
- Eurovia Infrastructure Limited
- FM Conway Ltd
- Galliford Try Construction Limited
- Hailsham Roadways Construction Co Limited
- Hanson Contracting
- Multipave NW Ltd
- Tarmac Trading Limited
- Tripod Crest Limited
The new framework will support National Highways into the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS 3). The current strategy, RIS 2, ends in 2025.
Carbon reduction is a priority on contracts awarded through the Pavement Delivery Framework
The new framework also sees an increased focus on carbon reduction, with bidding organisations committed to annual carbon reduction activities within the timeframe of the contract.
Additionally, as part of this focus, National Highways designated warm mix asphalt as the contract’s default material of choice which delivers up to 15% carbon savings per tonne in comparison to the previous default pavement material. It is also more durable and quicker to lay, meaning roads can be reopened to traffic faster.
National Highways is committed to cutting carbon emissions through construction and maintenance to net-zero by 2040 as part of its long-term approach to the environment.
Boosting small businesses and road surface resilience
Maintaining a good road surface is crucial for the safety and reliability of the network, as the 4,500-mile network is used by as many as 4 million vehicles each day.
Duncan Smith, executive director of operations at National Highways, said:
“Engaging an increased range of organisations from across the industry is a hugely positive step for us, allowing us to expand our supply chain and improve our resilience.
“Having greatly reduced turnover requirements to encourage applications from SMEs, we are delighted that a number of these lots have been awarded to comparatively smaller organisations. We’re also happy to be working with some organisations that we haven’t worked with previously, and we look forward to building these new relationships.
“These contracts will also support our Net Zero Carbon Plan, which underpins all of our work now and in future years.”
