Sizewell C supports local suppliers on significant off-site roads infrastructure contracts

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 3.2GW nuclear power project on the Suffolk coast.

Galliford Try will construct a new 6.5km Sizewell Link Road and the new 1.8km Two Village Bypass, while Suffolk-based and family-owned civil engineering contractor, Breheny Civil Engineering, will 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.

Mark Burrows, Regional Commercial Director, Breheny Civil Engineering said, “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.”

John Dugmore, Chief Executive of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, added “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 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 currently has over 1,000 working on the project which is expected to double 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. 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.