Strabag is in line to design and deliver a £2.9bn overhaul of a critical water pipeline in North West England.
The UK arm of the Austrian contractor, in partnership with London-based infrastructure investor Equitix, was named as preferred bidder for the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP).
The consortium is expected to sign a contract in the first half of this year for the mammoth job on the 110km pipeline.
Built in the 1950s, the aqueduct carries water from the Lake District into Greater Manchester but all six of its tunnel sections require replacement.
Project client United Utilities expects the construction phase of the project to take eight years.
Once the contract is signed, Strabag-Equitix will also be responsible for a 25-year maintenance period.
The estimated cost of the project has risen sharply from £1.75bn when it was first taken to market in 2022 to up to £2.9bn today.
Strabag chief executive Klemens Haselsteiner said: “We are delighted to have been appointed preferred bidder on such a regionally important programme in the North West.
“This is an exciting programme which will provide a huge amount of benefit to the region.”
Haselsteiner added that the HARP deal marked “an important step in our expansion plans for the UK division of Strabag”.
Strabag UK’s turnover more than doubled in the 2023 calendar year, reaching £135.1m compared with £76.3m the year before.
This helped it to reverse a £22.3m loss in 2022 with a pre-tax profit of £15.9m the following year.
Equitix chief executive Hugh Crossley said the firm was “delighted” with the preferred bidder announcement.
“Our strong track record in delivering greenfield projects, coupled with our approach to partnerships, will lead to the successful delivery of this significant project that will benefit communities in the North West for generations,” he added.
The competitive procurement process was developed by regulator Ofwat using lessons from the delivery of Thames Water’s huge Tideway Tunnel.
