The South Wales Trunk Road Agent is planning a new Highways and Structures Framework for work across the strategic road network in South Wales. The proposed framework is valued at £270 million excluding VAT and will cover civil and structural engineering, highway surfacing and associated works.
This is a planned procurement notice rather than the final call for competition. The scope and timetable may still change, but the information is detailed enough for contractors to assess their fit and start preparing. If your organisation is considering the framework, speak to Thornton & Lowe about your highways bid strategy.
How will the framework be divided?
The framework is expected to contain two lots:
- Lot 1: Highways and Structures, valued at an estimated £152 million excluding VAT.
- Lot 2: Surfacing and Ancillary Works, valued at an estimated £118 million excluding VAT.
Lot 1 is broad. It includes civil and structural engineering, carriageway maintenance, structural renewals, active travel, safety fencing, depot works, environmental works, tunnels, traffic management, asset renewals, bridge strengthening, mechanical and electrical works, communications and intelligent transport systems.
Lot 2 focuses on pavement surfacing and related activity, including emergency works, traffic management, drainage, ironwork, kerbs, footways and road markings.
The SWTRA planned procurement notice states that up to eight suppliers may be appointed across the framework.
Who should consider bidding?
The opportunity is most relevant to principal contractors and infrastructure specialists with evidence of delivering on strategic roads or comparable live transport networks. Depending on the lot and final tender structure, suitable bidders may include:
- highways and civil engineering contractors;
- bridge and structures specialists;
- surfacing and pavement contractors;
- traffic management providers;
- drainage, road marking and ancillary works contractors;
- multidisciplinary teams with M&E, lighting, communications or ITS capability.
Specialist subcontractors may also have important supply-chain opportunities, particularly where principal bidders need regional capacity or technical disciplines that sit outside their core delivery teams.
Our highways and civil engineering tenders page provides an overview of the sector and the range of road, maintenance and infrastructure contracts suppliers may encounter.
Likely evidence priorities
Bidders should begin gathering evidence that demonstrates:
- safe delivery on live highways and structures;
- traffic management and network disruption controls;
- programme and cost management across multiple work packages;
- emergency and reactive response capability;
- quality assurance, testing and handover;
- supply-chain management and regional resource availability;
- carbon reduction, waste management and biodiversity controls;
- community benefits and Welsh social value outcomes;
- collaborative working with designers, authorities and utility stakeholders.
Case studies should make the delivery environment clear. A technically similar project completed on a closed site may not prove the same capability as work delivered safely beside live traffic with constrained possessions and public interfaces.
Review the commercial and geographic fit
The framework is expected to cover South Wales, including Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, the Valleys, Swansea, Monmouthshire and Newport. Bidders should test whether their depots, labour, plant and supply chain can support the full required geography for the selected lot.
Call-offs may be awarded with or without competition. This makes framework-stage pricing, capacity statements and service commitments particularly important, because they may influence future direct awards as well as mini-competitions.
Prepare ahead of the tender notice
The current estimated tender publication date is 7 September 2026, with a planned submission deadline of 16 October 2026 at noon. Both dates remain indicative until the final notice is published.
Contractors should use the lead-in period to confirm bidding arrangements, identify the right lot, secure key partners and build a strong evidence library. Suppliers that wait for the full documents may find there is too little time to resolve gaps in regional capacity, accreditations or project evidence.
