The Welsh government has selected Balfour Beatty to design and build the A487 Caernarfon to Bontnewydd bypass highways scheme.
Initial project estimates by the client put the costs at between £90m and £100m; Balfour Beatty’s winning bid was just £65.5m.
Auditors from KPMG this week delivered a report to Balfour Beatty’s board that highlighted numerous problems in the organisation. High among these was the company’s tendency to submit bids for jobs at very low margins, often based on inaccurate cost forecasting, and fail to include adequate provision for risk. (See previous report here.)
The Caernarfon Bontnewydd bypass scheme consists of a new 9.8km highway between the Goat roundabout (A499/A487 junction) and the Plas Menai roundabout. Balfour Beatty has been engaged on an early contractor involvement (ECI) basis.
The project involves 18 structures comprising seven bridges (including a crossing over the Welsh Highland Railway, a 280m bridge over the River Gwyrfai and a 300m bridge over the River Seiont) and 11 culverts.
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