Highways England has appointed Jacobs as integration partner on the Lower Thames Crossing project, on a contract worth £162.5m. The firm will support the roads body through programme management, stakeholder management and risk management, and will have responsibility for ensuring that cost, time and quality goals are met. The £6.8bn Essex to Kent link is set to include more than 14 miles of new road, including two new 2.6 mile-long tunnels. Jacobs will now prepare the scheme to move into the delivery phase, so that main works contractors will be able to start. The firm will also support the delivery of the construction, integrated system commissioning and handover to operations.