Beseiged tram company bids for Forth bridge contract

An Edinburgh MSP has expressed concern over news that Bilfinger Berger, the contractor in charge of the city centre tram works, has lodged a bid to build the new Forth crossing.

The German company charged with building the tram network has been at the centre of a storm of criticism since delays and cost overruns began to hit the project.

Edinburgh West MSP Margaret Smith said: “People have different views on the tram project, but we quite clearly have a contractor in Bilfinger that is not working in the best faith. There have been lots of incidents over the last year or so where they have held the city ransom.

“I don’t think this is the sort of company the Scottish taxpayer will want to see anywhere near the bridge project.”

The contractor is currently involved in a legal dispute with Transport Initiative Edinburgh (TIE), the company put in charge of the trams project by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The disagreements threaten to delay the tram works and have already increased the project’s overall costs.

City of Edinburgh Council backed TIE last month, whilst also revealing its reservations regarding Bilfinger’s potential participation in the bridge developments.

Transport Scotland recently pushed back the deadline for companies who wish to express their interest in developing the proposed 'Forth Replacement Crossing'.

A spokesperson for the agency said: “A short extension for the submission of assessment details by interested parties has been introduced. This can be accommodated within the overall programme for the project and does not affect the timetable for the contract award or completion on time and on budget.

“There has been significant interest in the competition with a number of firms likely to form consortia.

“The rescheduled date for interested parties to submit their assessment details allows firms sufficient time to establish and consolidate their proposed consortia arrangements for this major international civil engineering project.”

Currently only construction syndicate Forthspan, consisting of the four contractors BAM Nutall, Morgan Est, Balfour Beatty and Vinci Construction, has openly expressed its interest in working on the bridge project.

Following Bilfinger’s attendance at a Public Information Exhibition detailing the planned bridge development, the firm is believed to have established a team of staff in Edinburgh who will work on their application.

A spokesman for Bilfinger said: "We do not talk about projects we are bidding on and will only discuss projects when we have won the contract."

The 45 year old Forth Road Bridge was deemed unsuitable for future long term use in 2007, and will be replaced in 2016 by a £2 billion cable-stayed bridge.

The replacement crossing will carry two lanes of traffic in each direction, and will include hard shoulders in order to prevent the congestion problems frequently experienced by users of the current bridge.

Windshields along the three kilometre crossing will similarly enable buses and heavy goods vehicles to travel directly over the river, regardless of the notoriously bad weather which often forces lane closures across the Forth.