Hochtief Murphy wins tunnel for £2.4bn York potash mine

Aaron Morby 9 years ago
Share

A joint venture between Murphy and Hochtief has been named preferred bidder for the main tunnelling contract for the planned £2.4bn potash mine in North Yorkshire.

Whitby Potash mine

Plan advances to mine the world’s largest deposit of potash

Sirius Minerals, a fertilizer producer, hopes to start preparatory building work at the site near Whitby shortly, with the mine opening in 2021.

A 23-mile tunnel will be built, so minerals can be transported to a processing plant on Teesside.

The fertilizer producer also named Associated Mining Construction – formed from specialist firms within the Thyseen and Redpath group – as preferred bidder for shaft sinking at the mine site.

York-PotashTBM-strategy

The Murphy Hochtief joint venture will design and build the underground mineral transport system to link the mine with the materials handling facility.

This will involve a 6m diameter TBM-bored tunnel between the mine head site at Dove’s Nest Farm near Whitby, and a portal near the town of Redcar.

Designed by Arup, the plan is to use five hard rock TBMs, which will be lowered in at four intermediate staging shafts. The starting depth will be around 360m below the surface at the mine head.

The 12-month first phase of work will comprise front end engineering design and a detailed geotech programme along the route.

From this work a refined estimate based on a full design will be compiled, prior to agreement of the contract sum.

Chris Fraser Managing Director and CEO said: “This is the culmination of a huge amount of work by both the successful bidders and those that have been unsuccessful and we thank all of the groups involved for their efforts.

“We are delighted to now be moving forward with our selected partners towards the implementation of the Project.”

Latest news

Bowmer & Kirkland boosts margins as profits surge to £69m

Revenue nudges up towards £1.3bn in year of expansion
12 hours ago

Offshore construction starts on £4bn windfarm

Foundations for first of 95 turbines installed: Watch video
12 hours ago

AECOM buys civils consultant Allen Gordon

Global giant acquires Scottish water and energy specialist
11 hours ago

Plans in for £1bn Northern Gateway site in Manchester

Plan for 500-acre manufacturing and logistic park advance
11 hours ago

RED wins £31m London Shoreditch student digs job

Two extra floors will be added to Willen House scheme
12 hours ago

Deconstruct handed £12m Grenfell demolition

Firm maintaining building awarded job without bid race to speed process
12 hours ago

Sizewell site workers get made to measure PPE

Bespoke fitting service on offer at new Bryson branch
12 hours ago

Comment: Gateway is acting like a barricade

Contractors left banging their heads on an (unbuilt) brick wall
3 days ago

Final phase of £1.5bn Elephant and Castle revamp hits planning

Get Living submits revised plan for 500 homes and 450-bed student block
4 days ago

Ealing backs final phase of £1.3bn estate rebuild

Friary Park estate rebuild in Acton reaches end stage
3 days ago

Green light for scaled-down Nottingham student tower

Glasshouse Street scheme will deliver 247 student rooms
3 days ago

Aston Villa to revamp North Stand

Club to reuse existing structure rather than complete rebuild
4 days ago

Mace signs ex-ISG director to lead Euro health and tech push

Gary Sweeney to head up healthcare and life sciences consultancy arm
3 days ago

Sir Robert McAlpine claws way back into profit

Firm says return to profit and strong cash balance validates new strategy
4 days ago

Severfield to cut staff by 6% amid pricing pressure

Steelwork contractor warns of extended tighter pricing due to project delays
4 days ago

JRL completes sale of 50% stake to Malaysian giant IJM

Deal boosts balance sheet and kicks starts growth plan
5 days ago

Green light for £100m Liverpool Baltic station build

Enabling highway works to start in the autumn
5 days ago

First live tests for flying construction robots

Drones can lay construction materials at height on site
4 days ago

Three firms land £170m Gentoo Sunderland housing deal

PHS Solutions, Esh and RE:GEN to deliver 10-year home upgrade plan
5 days ago

Gateway gridlock hits build-to-rent delivery as starts nosedive

Build to rent starts plunge 18% in the capital
6 days ago

Call to shift Gateway 2 checks to end building bottleneck

"The current system isn't working but we all want to see safe buildings"
5 days ago

GBN launches £600m bid race for SMR engineer roles

Owner engineers to provide technical and assurance services
6 days ago

Wates hires ex-Homes England chief to head public sector push

Robert Stone to spearhead its public sector and national frameworks strategy
6 days ago

Acheson Construction collapse costs suppliers £8.5m

One frustrated creditor seized a telehandler after contractor went into administration
6 days ago

Dominus wins go-ahead for 173-bed Glasgow scheme

Old Wynd Street job expected to cost around £25m to build
6 days ago

Safety Regulator misses deadline to clear Gateway 2 backlog

Investors pulling out of funding high rise buildings
6 days ago

CITB still sitting on £95m cash pile

Staff numbers jump from 666 to 763 as training body wage bill soars
7 days ago

£500m road surfacing framework market call

NEPO goes out to consultation on north east regional highways deal
7 days ago

Two share £220m Scottish rail repairs and minor works deal

AmcoGiffen and CPMS win civils and building repair deals
7 days ago

Builder wanted for £60m London leisure and flats job

Tower Hamlets aims to replace St George’s Leisure Centre in Shadwell
7 days ago

Contractor services