Balfour Beatty wins £82.5m contract to build for RAF Marham

Balfour Beatty has won a contract with by BAE Systems, the leading global defence company, to carry out the £82.5m contract to build their engineering and training facilities at a site in Norfolk. The RAF Marham in Norfolk will be getting new state of the art facilities in preparation for the arrival of the first F-35 Lightning II aircraft in the UK, the aircraft is set to be in the UK by 2018.The news has been well accepted since the announcement in March 2013 from the Secretary of State for Defence confirming that RAF Marham would soon become the chief operating station for the F-35 Lightning II jets of the UK’s fleet.The Balfour Beatty will be constructing 3 new facilities on behalf of BAE Systems to support the appearance of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft in 2018, the new builds include an Integrated Training Centre, Logistics Operations Centre and a Maintenance and Finishing Facility.The company will be utilising digital tools like 4D modelling and BIM throughout the construction of the 25,000m2 technical accommodation across three individual sites on the base.Balfour Beatty MD of UK Construction Services, Dean Banks, stated that they were committed to making the development a success. He mentioned the company had an excellent track record BAE Systems and their history of delivering defence projects in the UK.Their expertise in the industry of defence and aviation stemmed their progress in successfully acquiring new bigger projects. The company developed technically advanced delivery solutions, in an aim to ensure the RAF Marham’s operational capability is maintained efficiently throughout the construction activities on the base.Balfour Beatty has worked with the UK Ministry of Defence’s Lightning Project Team and BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Royal Air Forces Marham over the past 6 months as one of their Preferred Suppliers.