Official UK procurement notice
Integral Bridge Research · UK public procurement notice
Authority: National Highways Limited (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNational Highways is a government-owned company and the appointed strategic highways authority and licence holder responsible for operating, maintaining and improving England’s SRN; 4,300 miles of motorways and major A roads at the core of the national transport network.
National Highways is exploring options for the development of a controlled testing environment capable of replicating the behaviour of the Wisley Interchange integral bridge; pioneering remote control condition monitoring with 116 sensors recording data on a brand new integral bridge.
National Highways is looking at extending the current live operational trial at the M25 Junction 10 Wisley Interchange integral bridge through the design and construction of a scaled physical model.
This activity will enable controlled investigation of structural–soil interaction (SSI) behaviour, complementing the existing full-scale monitoring programme.
The Wisley Interchange Bridge Trial is pioneering the use of remote condition monitoring on a newly constructed integral bridge, with 116 sensors currently deployed and recording live performance data.
While the field trial provides invaluable real-world insight, the addition of a laboratory-based physical model will allow deeper understanding of settlement, stress, and strain behaviour under controlled conditions.
The combined use of physical laboratory testing, advanced modelling, and live field data will provide early evidence on the potential to inform future updates to PD 6694-1.
In the longer term, this approach has the potential to reduce material use, cut construction costs, and improve confidence in the design and delivery of integral bridge structures.
This notice is issued as part of a Preliminary Market Engagement under the Procurement Act 2023. Participation does not constitute a commitment to procure or award any contract, nor does it provide any guarantee of involvement in future commercial opportunities. Information gathered will be used to support technical decision-making, standards development, and potential future procurement strategies.
CPV: Research laboratory services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How National Highways Limited buys Research services (CPV 7311), and who usually turns up
National Highways Limited’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Research services (CPV 7311) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the delivery region.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 87 days of the bid deadline.
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How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid8%
2–346%
4–633%
7+13%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate27%
Within ±2%64%
Above estimate9%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
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What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 7311Published estimate£300k
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How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 79 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid19%
2–332%
4–634%
7+15%
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Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
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Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
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Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 5 Aug 2026, 12:23 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Aug 2026, 12:23 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-074140- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dc43Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
5 Aug 2026 → 4 Jan 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published78 days ago5 Aug 2026, 12:23 BST
- Market engagement51 days ago31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Organisations with relevant capability and experience are invited to contribute information to support this market engagement. Interested parties are invited to demonstrate experience in structural soil interaction, physical modelling, instrumentation, or infrastructure monitoring.
National Highways is interested to here previous experience in:
- The design, construction, or testing of scaled physical models for civil or geotechnical infrastructure.
- Capability in instrumentation, sensing, and monitoring, including the integration of laboratory and field data.
- Experience applying advanced modelling, analytics, or digital frameworks to interpret structural and geotechnical behaviour.
- Views on how laboratory-based testing can complement or accelerate live asset trials and inform design standards.
- Any relevant examples of work supporting design guidance, standards development, or asset management decision making.
Organisations are invited to provide feedback via the following link:
- Tender notice expected16 days ago5 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 74 days4 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Aug 2026, 12:23 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender