Balfour Beatty awarded EUR 200m UK hospital project

British engineering and construction group Balfour Beatty has announced that its specialist concession unit Consort Healthcare has been awarded a £136 mln (EUR 200 mln) contract to redevelop Salford Hospital in Greater Manchester. Due to open in 2012, the development will involve 36,000 m² of new accommodation and the refurbishment of existing buildings. Consort will design, construct, operate and maintain a new acute hospital building, an education building and a multi-storey car park under a 35-year PFI (private finance initiative) concession contract, using Balfour Beatty Group companies. PFIs are used by the UK government as a way of funding major capital investments without immediately using public funds.

In a separate announcement, Balfour Beatty says that the UK's Network Rail have confirmed its Rail unit as one of its four long-term renewals contractors. The unit has been responsible for plain line, switches and crossings renewals across the South East of England since 2004 under a contract worth approximately £ 90 mln (EUR 132 mln) annually. The contract extension means that Balfour Beatty Rail will continue this work under existing arrangements to 2009.