Gas pipes

AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, Wales & West Utilities (WWU) and Morrison Utility Services today signed a £300m contract to carry out a major programme of gas mains replacement across Wales and the south west of England for WWU.

The five-year contract, which includes an option for an extension of a further five years, covers the replacement of 420 kilometres per year of ageing gas pipes.

The alliance will begin work in April this year and will take responsibility for all aspects of the mains renewal including concept, feasibility, design, programme management and implementation.

AMEC, which has a £130m share in the project, will provide commercial, programme and project management, health, safety and environmental management, design support services and on-site supervision and engineering.

'We have taken the strategic decision to move away from the traditional client/service provider arrangements and have instead adopted this new alliance approach instead,' said Graham Edwards, chief executive of WWU, a gas distribution business with around 34,000km of gas distribution pipelines located in Wales and the south west of England.

'Both AMEC and Morrison have significant experience, not only in the gas sector but in the utilities sector generally, and this alliance will see the beginning of a new way of working between us. All the companies involved will have an equal interest in building working relationships, working practices and incentives towards the common goal of delivering this project on time and on budget,' he added.

In February 2005, AMEC was awarded a £280m five-year alliance contract to upgrade gas pipelines along the 'M1 Corridor' covering the cities of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.