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Balfour Beatty secures £445 million M74 completion contract in Scotland in joint venture

Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction, services and investment group, announces today that it has been awarded a contract, as part of the Interlink M74 Joint Venture, by Glasgow City Council to complete the M74 motorway in Scotland.

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, together with its equal joint venture partners Morgan Est, Morrison Construction and Sir Robert McAlpine, will be responsible for a contract worth £445 million to design and construct an 8km extension to the M74.  This extension will significantly reduce congestion on the busiest stretch of the M8 through Glasgow.

Commenting on the award today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said:

"We are delighted to be awarded this very significant civil engineering project to complete a vital part of the West of Scotland’s motorway network.  Balfour Beatty has a strong presence in Scotland and this award gives us an ideal opportunity to demonstrate further our well-established technical skills and strengthen our existing relationships with Transport Scotland as well as Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire councils.  We look forward to working closely with our joint venture partners to deliver successfully this eagerly-awaited scheme."

Interlink M74 Joint Venture will now commence the detailed design in readiness for the commencement of construction work on site in May 2008.  When complete at the end of 2011, the extension will link the M74 from where it currently ends, at Fullarton Road Junction near Carmyle, to the M8 just west of the Kingston Bridge.

ENDS

Enquiries to:
Tim Sharp
Tel: 020 7216 6884
www.balfourbeatty.com

Notes to Editors

1. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering is the UK’s leading civil engineering company.  Its regional business has been responsible for the M77/Glasgow Southern Orbital DBFO project and many other key motorway and trunk road contracts in Scotland.  It is currently working on many other projects throughout the UK including the upgrade of the A1 between Bramham and Wetherby in Yorkshire, the infrastructure for East Midlands Parkway, a new park and ride train station to serve East Midlands Airport, the infrastructure for Phase 1 of the Ravenscraig Redevelopment in North Lanarkshire as well as the Forth Bridge restoration contract.
   
   Its major projects division is also currently working on major projects for the A3 bottleneck alleviation at Hindhead and the Devil’s Punchbowl, the widening of the M1 between Junctions 6a and 10 and the new Northern Ticket Hall as part of the development of King’s Cross Underground Station.

2. Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction, services and investment business, well-positioned in infrastructure markets which offer significant long-term growth.  We work in partnership with sophisticated customers who value the highest levels of quality, safety and technical expertise.  Our skills are applied in appropriate combinations to meet individual customer need.  Balfour Beatty’s financial position, with significant net cash and with strong operating cash flows, offers continuing flexibility to add additional capacity and expertise to the business mix and to make appropriate investments in PPP and other long-term growth opportunities.