Balfour Beatty wins £130m contract to build Kent M20 truck area

International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty said it had won a £130m contract to build a proposed truck area near the M20 motorway.

The contract will cover the development of the proposals during the Early Contractor Involvement phase of the project and will also cover the construction of the lorry area subject to a decision to proceed from government.

Chief executive Leo Quinn said the truck area would provide “much needed relief to Kent's road networks while supporting local economic growth and development".

At peak construction, the project could employ up to 150 construction workers and is anticipated to be partially open by the summer of 2017.

It will accommodate approximately 3,600 trucks at capacity, providing relief to the Kent road network when services across the English Channel are disrupted and lorries are unable to travel to the continent.

“With the number of goods vehicles crossing from Kent forecasted to double by the mid-2020s, the lorry area will provide a much needed, long term solution to Operation Stack, the emergency procedure whereby lorries are queued on parts of the M20 when unable to cross to the continent,” Balfour said.