Strabag is already active in the UK in joint venture with Costain and Skanska (as SCS JV) on lots S1 and S2 of the HS2 project, which have a combined contract value of £1.84bn.
It has now been contracted by Sirius Minerals to dig a 13km tunnel at the North Yorkshire Polyhalite Project.
The tunnel will form part of the underground transport system for the Woodsmith potash mine, near Whitby
The Woodsmith Mine will begin extraction from the world’s largest deposit of polyhalite, a mineral used in the production of fertilizer, in 2021. The section to be built by Strabag is part of a 37km tunnel with a diameter of 4.7 metres for a conveyor system to transport the mined polyhalite to Wilton for processing.
Strabag had already been involved with the project on an early contractor involvement (ECI) basis. This gave the company the opportunity to help with the design and demonstrate its capabilities to the client.
Sirius chief development officer Simon Carter said: “Sirius has undertaken a competitive procurement process in respect of Drive 1 to ensure that the best tunnelling option was developed. Strabag was the winning tenderer, providing a compelling offer in terms of price, schedule, safety management and risk allocation.”
Strabag SE chief executive Thomas Birtel said: “We are very proud to have acquired this project. It shows that the early involvement of the contractor in the preconstruction phase offers many advantages and can make a decisive contribution to the success of the project. Early contractor involvement makes it possible to recognise potential for optimisation at an early stage and to use this potential over the entire duration of the project.”
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