CAMBRIDGESHIRE County Council has confirmed that one of its contractors is ready to repair defects on the St Ives-Cambridge guided busway if the main contractor BAM Nuttall fails to do so.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE County Council has confirmed that one of its contractors is ready to repair defects on the St Ives-Cambridge guided busway if the main contractor BAM Nuttall fails to do so.

Once the contract is complete – when a raft of completion �certificates is accepted over the coming weeks or months – BAM has 28 days to fix what the county says are problems with the project.

The contractor disputes that the issues raised by the council are defects.

Unless the dispute can be resolved amicably, CCC will be seeking to recover around �45m from BAM through the courts.

In the meantime, Bob Menzies, the council’s head of busway delivery, said: “Once BAM Nuttall completes the rest of their works and finally hands over the route to the council, they will have 28 days to correct all notified defects.

“If, as we expect, they do not correct the outstanding defects on the northern section, Jackson Civil Engineering will step in and carry out the necessary works, and the costs will be deducted from BAM Nuttall, not paid for by taxpayers.

“Jacksons will also lay a blacktop surface on the cycleway between Milton Road and Longstanton, while Cambridgeshire Highways add the blacktop to the southern section [between Cambridge railway station and Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Trumpington].

“The timetable for the works being carried out will depend on when BAM Nuttall complete their works, but we are already working with Jacksons and Cambridgeshire Highways to make sure the work can be done as quickly as possible.

“The weather may play some part, as you cannot lay the cycleway with snow on the ground.”

The county wants the work done before the busway opens to paying passengers.