Spanish contractor Ferrovial suffered losses of £29m on a motorway project in Scotland, according to its latest accounts.
Ferrovial Agroman UK, the company’s UK arm, was part of a consortium working on a £500m package of works known as the "M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project".
The work included the upgrading of a six-mile stretch of the M8 between Baillieston and Newhouse that had become known as the "missing link" in Scotland’s motorway network.
The Construction Inquirer website reports that the losses stemmed from a difficulty in estimating the costs of the M8 contract because of issues with the design, the complexities of working on a brownfield site and the shortage of labour and materials.
The company said: "As a result there is significant uncertainty in estimating the costs to come, the future operational performance and the degree to which certain cost overspends can be recovered from third parties."
Most of the work was completed five days ahead of schedule in April of this year, however the cost of accelerating work to meet the deadline pushed Ferrovial Agroman UK’s losses from £14m at the end of 2016 to £29m.
The provisions follow a £25m loss on the M8 improvement scheme in 2015.
Ferrovial carried out the scheme as part of the Scots Roads Partnership along with sister company Amey, Lagan Construction, Cintra, Meridiam, Uberior and Aberdeen Asset Management.
As well as supplying the missing link for motorists travelling between Glasgow and Edinburgh, the scheme included the construction of an underpass, new junctions and various road widening elements.
The M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project is the first stage of a £1.7bn investment in construction being delivered this financial year by Transport Scotland.
Image: The missing link between Glasgow and Edinburgh (Scottish government)
