A consortium of Australian, German and Spanish firms on 20 June was named preferred bidder for a privately financed, 30-year contract to design, build and operate a roughly one-kilometer-long bridge with three cable-stayed spans over the Mersey River between Runcorn and Widnes, about 20 km east of Liverpool, U.K.
With a concrete-box-girder deck, the new Mersey Gateway project—valued at $930 million, including land—is due for completion in 2017. The successful Merseylink consortium comprises Macquarie Capital Group Ltd., Bilfinger Project Investments Europe Ltd. and FCC Construcción S.A.