Double Contract Award Win for Crucial HS2 Infrastructure Schemes

Fitzgerald Contractors have secured two significant High Speed Two (Hs2) schemes as part of the enabling works for ‘Area North’, which will see the overall project create 345 miles of new high-speed track to connect the city centres of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

The first contract awarded to Fitzgerald is the £4.5m Streethay Roadheads scheme, located to the north of Birmingham, for client Laing Murphy (LM). The contract involves the construction of a temporary access road from the current A38 through to the proposed A38 Southbound Roadheads. Works include site clearance and site formation works to facilitate access and the subsequent trainline construction. Works are due to commence on-site in March and involves a number of key construction challenges including overcoming restricted access during construction as well as the requirement for importing significant quantities of fill material.

The second scheme, a £3.5m Stoneleigh Park Utilities Diversion design and build contract on behalf of project manager Stace LLP, has recently commenced on-site and is being delivered in a live environment. The proposed new trainline route will traverse the middle of the existing park which incorporates an area of 35 acres. The scheme involves the diversion of multiple utilities currently running across the alignment of the proposed railway line and includes the construction of a new 850m carriageway to adoptable highways standards.

At preconstruction stage it was identified that one of the most significant challenges was the need to maintain unimpeded daily access for the 1,200 people and associated businesses who permanently work on-site. Through significant consultation with stakeholders of the park Fitzgerald has developed a robust construction solution that places Stoneleigh Park stakeholders at the heart of the delivery plan.

The project will be delivered in two phases with the main works to divert all services outside of the HS2 corridor with temporary connections across the agreed route. HS2 will subsequently build two bridges across the proposed railway line to permanently connect both sides of Stoneleigh Park. Once the bridges are built, Fitzgerald will return to site to install new utility connections through the bridges and connect the diverted services into their permanent position.

Nick Coley, Managing Director, Fitzgerald Contractors, said: ‘It is encouraging that the investment we have made into HS2 has now resulted in these two significant projects progressing to site. Through Early Contractor Involvement we have been able to add real value to both schemes, the benefits of this will now be realised as the schemes are delivered.

We believe being a contractor with the ability to self-deliver projects, our specialist civil engineering skill set and our Midlands location make us ideally placed to deliver schemes for HS2, these two awards reinforce this view and we are confident that HS2 will provide a significant work stream moving forward’.