Atkins appointed on strategic roads contract

Atkins/Skanska appointed on strategic roads contract in UK's South West

Atkins, together with Skanska, has been appointed by the Highways Agency to maintain and operate the strategic road network in the UK's South West region. The contract, covering the HA's Area 2, is for a period of five years with work due to commence in July.

The contract is worth a total of up to £80 million per annum over the five year contract duration. All revenues will be split equally between Atkins and Skanska.

Uwe Krueger, Atkins' chief executive officer, said: "This is an important win for our UK business and it is the first time the Highways Agency has procured work under their new Asset Support Contract (ASC). Our success has been due to our ability to provide industry-leading skills at a competitive price and we believe it positions us to play a key role in helping to shape the management of the UK's road network moving forward."

The contract for the HA's Area 2 encompasses key motorways and major trunk roads across South West England, from Tewkesbury to Exeter and from Swindon to the Welsh border. It also includes responsibility for both Severn Bridges. The network will have to deal with the expected high levels of traffic travelling to and from the Olympic sailing event at Weymouth during the summer.

Atkins is also incumbent on the Highways Agency's Managing Agent Contract (MAC) for the East of England.

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Notes to editors:

Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading engineering and design consultancies*, employing some 17,700 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe. It has the breadth and depth of expertise to plan, design and enable some of the world's most technically challenging and time critical infrastructure projects.

*It is the largest engineering consultancy in the UK (New Civil Engineer Consultants File 2011) and the 13th largest global design firm (Engineering News-Record 2011).

Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.