Contract awarded for next stage of Oceansgate development

05 Feb 2018

The contract for the next phase of work at Oceansgate has been awarded to international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty.

The work on Vivid Approach involves supplying industrial workshops and offices with mains services and drainage. This includes electricity, gas and water mains and telecommunication ducts.

Once complete, Oceansgate will provide 25,000m2 of flexible employment space for marine businesses, in the country’s first exclusively Marine Enterprise Zone.

Councillor Ian Bowyer, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said:

“Oceansgate is a hugely exciting, world-class development which will bring together leading marine businesses and create new jobs in Plymouth.

“The contract with Balfour Beatty marks the next milestone in the development, providing essential services to the new buildings. We’ll be working together to ensure that any disruption is as minimal as possible.”

Andrew Shalgosky, Balfour Beatty project manager, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Plymouth City Council and their team to deliver the vital infrastructure required to support this exciting development.

“Early contractor engagement, through the Scape National Civil Engineering and Infrastructure framework, has enabled our team to provide the most efficient and cost effective solutions, while delivering significant benefits to the surrounding community through numerous work experience and local employment opportunities.”

Ella Secker, project manager at AECOM, consultants for Oceansgate, said:

“AECOM has been working closely with Plymouth City Council on the Oceansgate development for more than two years and it’s fantastic that this next phase of infrastructure work, which is critical to the delivery of future phases, is commencing.”

The project is complicated by the route that the services must follow, which is the road access into Jubilee Gate of the dockyard. The road is congested with old pipes and cables, which has left limited pathways for new services to be threaded through.

Vivid Approach will remain open for dockyard traffic, access to Princess Yachts and the Naval Heritage Centre. Temporary traffic lights will be installed to control traffic flow through the road works, taking into account peak times.