Five consortia are to bid for the £4.5bn task of widening the M25 and maintaining the orbital motorway for 30 years. Tendering for the design, build, finance and operate contract is due to start in early April and the ~Highways Agency~ expects to award it in 2008. Adding an extra lane to the remaining 60-plus three-lane sections will cost £1.5bn, while operation and maintenance of the route, and the Dartford Crossing, is valued at £100M a year. The pre-qualified groups are: Amey, Laing O’Rourke and Ferrovia Agroman; CircuLON (Fluor and Transurban); Connect Plus (Balfour Beatty, Skanska, Atkins and Egis Projects SA); Flow (Vinci Concessions SA, Autoroutes Du Sud De La France, Laing Roads, Carillion, Costain); and Macquarie Motorway Group (Macquarie European Infrastructure).