Transport for London (TfL) has been forced to suspend the award of the £1bn Silvertown Tunnel contract to a consortium led by BAM, following a legal challenge by a rival bidder.
Riverlinx, a consortium made up of BAM’s public private partnerships arm BAM PPP PGGM, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Cintra, Macquarie Capital and SK Engineering & Construction, was named as preferred bidder in May this year.
The consortium was chosen to design, build, finance and maintain the new London river crossing under the Thames in east London for Transport for London (TfL).
Work on the tunnel had been due to begin this year, with a scheduled opening of 2025.
But now rival bidder Silver Thames Connect (STC), a consortium made up of Hochtief and Spanish firm Iridium, has launched a legal challenge in relation to the procurement process.
STC’s decision to mount court proceedings means that TfL’s right to award the contract to Riverlinx later this summer is automatically suspended.
A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that our reserve bidder, STC, has decided to challenge the outcome of our procurement process for the design, build, finance and maintain contract for the Silvertown Tunnel. We are awaiting further details about the claim and will respond to them in due course.”
TfL added that it wanted to award the contract and begin construction on the project as soon as possible.
