Promoting, developing and procuring the New Tyne Crossing

Abstract

This paper introduces and describes the promotion, development and procurement of the New Tyne Crossing; the construction of a new vehicle tunnel followed by refurbishment of the existing Tyne Tunnel. A suite of papers is planned to cover the construction phase and specific issues of interest. The strategy was to award a concession for the financing, design, construction and operation of the new tunnel, refurbishment and operation of the existing tunnel and operation of the Tyne pedestrian and cyclist tunnels, for a period of 30 years. The intention of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority was to transfer the traffic risk and significant design and construction risk to the concessionaire as part of a public–private partnership (PPP) contract. This was subsequently achieved with the award of the contract to TT2/Bouygues TP in November 2007. The project boasts a number of UK firsts: a PPP for which funding has been secured totally from the revenue generated from the tolls and the first UK vehicle tunnel to have an active fire suppression system.