Setting out the road ahead: Sizewell C awards UK contracts for new roads and infrastructure upgrades

Sizewell C has awarded key new UK contracts for road and infrastructure work as it prepares to take significant steps forward in building the off-site infrastructure needed to help construct the nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast.  

The Sizewell C project – which will deliver 70% of its construction value to British suppliers and recently announced it had signed nearly 300 UK contracts worth £2.5bn – has awarded high value contracts to UK company Galliford Try to construct a new 6.5km Sizewell Link Road and a new 1.8km Two Village Bypass, and to Suffolk-based, family-owned civil engineering contractor, Breheny Civil Engineering, to build two new connecting roundabouts on the A12.  

The contracts follow the earlier multi-million award to Ipswich-based Jackson Civil Engineering to deliver key road schemes for the project.  

Sizewell C has committed to delivering 60% of materials by rail or sea to limit impacts on local roads, and recently announced a trial of hydrogen buses to transport construction workers. The new major road schemes will also play a big part in limiting the impact on the existing road infrastructure and in reducing local impacts during the construction phase.  

Damian Leydon, Sizewell C Site Delivery Director, said: “These new contracts demonstrate how committed this project is to delivering high-value contracts to businesses here in Suffolk and across the UK – and it shows once again that we have an abundance of the kind of skilled people we need right here in this region.  

“These contracts also mark a milestone in the offsite infrastructure we need to build Sizewell C. By building these roads and roundabouts, we can deliver what we need safely and efficiently, and we can reduce the impact of construction traffic on the existing road network here in Suffolk at the same time.  

“Sizewell C brings energy security for Britain and huge local benefits for Suffolk – but we know that any big infrastructure project of this size brings disruption too. A big part of our job is to minimise that disruption – and these new road schemes are part of a wider programme, including our park and rides, freight management facilities, and rail and sea infrastructure, which will allow us to do that over the course of the construction phase.” 

The Sizewell Link Road – which is expected to be completed in 2027 – will be a 6.5km new road bypassing local villages, Theberton and Middleton Moor, with new roundabouts and junction at each end to connect to existing road infrastructure.  

The Two Village Bypass – which is expected to be built by the end of 2026, and which has long been requested by local people well before the Sizewell C project – will enable construction traffic to bypass the villages of Farnham and Stratford St Andrew.  

And the connecting A12 roundabouts at Friday Street and Yoxford will allow for much safer connections and improve safety on parts of the A12 known locally as a risk for drivers.    

The major roads announcement marks a significant contract for Galliford Try, one of the UK’s leading contractors in the Highways sector.  

Awarded the roundabout contracts, Suffolk-based Breheny Civil Engineering is headquartered in Needham Market and has been building Britain’s infrastructure since 1963.

Mark Burrows, Regional Commercial Director, Breheny Civil Engineering: “Sizewell C offers Suffolk an incredible opportunity to showcase the region’s extensive talent and resources, providing work opportunities for years to come.  

“We originally worked on Sizewell B in the 1980s, we have completed several projects on Sizewell C already, and we’re delighted to have now been awarded the construction of the new roundabouts on the A12 at Yoxford and Friday Street.  

“We’ve been working on sections of the A12 since the 1970s and look forward to continuing to improve the A12 with the building of the new roundabouts to support the construction of Sizewell C.”

Breheny employs in-house teams and has a long-term supply chain, delivering works across East Anglia, the Southeast, Midlands and Yorkshire.

Patrick Spencer MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich said: “This is a good economic news story for Suffolk, it’s fantastic to hear Breheny will be working on the Sizewell C project. It means more economic opportunities, more job opportunities, and further proof that Suffolk is the growth engine of the East of England.”

Grasping local supply chain opportunities

The announcement comes as Sizewell C welcomed the British Chamber of Commerce and Suffolk Chamber of Commerce to the construction site.

John Dugmore, Chief Executive of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, said: ‘’Suffolk Chamber of Commerce has maintained and will continue to maintain a strong and trusted partnership with Sizewell C to ensure that local and regional supply chain opportunities are grasped.  

“Witnessing the breadth of activity now taking place across the project, alongside the growing list of contracts being awarded to local and regional firms such as Breheny and Jacksons, is the start of what Sizewell C will continue to deliver as part of their nuclear new build legacy in Suffolk.  

“With the government’s recent announcements around construction jobs and bringing forward at pace infrastructure projects, it is more important than ever before that Sizewell C and other major developers harness local and regional supply chains.  This will ensure together we build a legacy for an ever-vibrant local economy, and act as a catalyst for growth and investment for the county and region.”

Sizewell C – a 3.2GW nuclear power project – will support 70,000 high-quality jobs across the UK and is committed to spending £4.4bn in the East of England alone across the construction period. It has over 1,000 working on the project and is expected to have around 2000 people by the end of the year.  

At least one third of the peak construction workforce of 7,900 will come from the local area, and the project made a series of local jobs pledges in its first year, including for local urban centres Lowestoft and Ipswich, and it has launched a series of jobs fairs to ensure that opportunities are made available to the region.  

Over sixty apprentices have already joined, the first of at least 1,500 apprenticeships the project will deliver over the construction period, 540 of which will come from the local area.