The SMP Alliance will work to add capacity and deliver safety improvement works across England's strategic road network. Credit: Adam Littman Davis on Unsplash.

Highways England has selected Costain as one of the partners for the £4.5bn Smart Motorway Programme Alliance (SMP Alliance).

The SMP Alliance, which includes six partners, will work to add capacity and deliver safety improvement works across the strategic road network in England.

Under the ten-year framework, the partners will focus on using technology to efficiently deliver a key element of the government’s second Road Investment Strategy.

As part of the initiative, Costain plans to leverage new technologies to upgrade the country’s road network. The company will also utilise Design for Manufacture and Assembly techniques (DfMA) to carry out the majority of the work off-site to minimise disruption.

Costain CEO Alex Vaughan said: “We are delighted to have been selected as one of the partners to the SMP Alliance. This strategic programme will deliver the much-needed capacity and safety improvements across the strategic road network in England.

“This programme approach seeks a step change in delivery performance, and Costain has been a long-term partner for Highways England, delivering a broad mix of services from consultancy and digital technology solutions through to programme management and complex project delivery, demonstrating Costain’s strong breadth of capabilities that add value in shaping and delivering England’s future transport infrastructure.”

Headquartered in Maidenhead, Costain is a construction and engineering firm with more than 3,700 employees in the UK.

Recently, the company secured a £210m contract from Highways England to upgrade a section of the A30 road in the UK.

The project includes upgrading an 8.7-mile section between Chiverton Cross and Carland Cross in Cornwall.