Southern Water is kickstarting the procurement process to find a Technical Partner for its Southern Transfer Strategic Resource Option with a market engagement exercise ahead of tendering a £50 million formal contract notice in October 2024.

The water company intends to construct a ~85km pipeline plus associated treatment works and other infrastructure, to transfer drinking water from the Thames Water area to Southern Water's network in Hampshire.

Southern Water is seeking an external partner with multidisciplinary expertise developing and delivering designs for large complex infrastructure schemes, including successfully navigating the Development Consent Order (DCO) process, planned for 2030.

The utility anticipates that the Technical Partner will be contracted via a single supplier framework, which will provide support to Southern Water throughout the design phase and examination process. The bidder will be required to co-ordinate all works instructed under the proposed framework, together with completing all surveys, environmental studies, preparing a "tender ready" outline design and managing the DCO process to determination.

The successful bidder will be Principal Designer for the scheme and Principal Contractor for works which fall under the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 during the design phase.

The scheme, the Thames to Southern Transfer (T2ST), is part of the Southern Water, Water for Life Hampshire programme and is among a number of projects being managed by the Regulators' Alliance for the Progression of Infrastructure Development (RAPID).

Services to be provided under the wide-ranging contract will include:

• Environmental Assessment
• Ground investigations
• DCO planning: Including all necessary planning and related consenting advice and coordination of DCO application process including pre-application, application and examination stages.
• Engineering and Technical: Develop outline design and architectural plans, assess the project's technical feasibility, and provide expertise on engineering solutions and infrastructure requirements.
• Undertake duties as Principal Designer including development of construction and commissioning methodology.
• Design for Procurement: Produce outline design for the scheme ready to be issued to prospective contractors bidding for the construction works.
• Transportation Planning: Analyse the project's transportation needs, assess its impact on local traffic patterns, and develop strategies to minimise congestion and improve accessibility, including transportation assessments and traffic modelling.
• Community Engagement and Stakeholder Management:
• Land Referencing and Land Access
• Project Management

Estimated total value of the Technical Partner contract is £50 million. The Periodic Indicative Notice issued by Southern Water says it may arrange a market engagement session for interested suppliers in the near future. Estimated date of publication of a formal contract notice is October 2024.

Click here to access the Periodic Indicative Notice documentation