Friday March 26:

Crossrail released the tender documents for the first of the mega tunnel and station contracts.
C300 forms the western running tunnel section through Central London. These tunnels run from Royal Oak portal at Westbourne Grove through to the western end of Farringdon station, commonly known as drive X. Contract value is approx £500-600 million.

Completed tenders are due back in the final week of June and there are currently 5 joint ventures who have pre qualified.

Other Crossrail news:

The UK Learning and Skills Council last week gave approval for £5 million of funding for the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy to be built in East London.

The benefit of Crossrail to the UK economy will be at least £38 billion and at the peak of construction it will employ over 14,000 people of which 3,500 will be in the tunnelling and underground construction sections. It is anticipated that there will be a skills shortage in these specialist areas and the academy is expected to train labour to make up this shortfall.  It fits into the sustainable procurement legacy requirements of the project because as well as being vital to the success of the Crossrail initiative, the academy will provide access to training, jobs and a path to sustainable employment for some of the most socially excluded areas of London.

The facilities are anticipated to be used by clients such as National Grid, London Underground, Thames Water, and EDF Energy.