Galliford Try has won a £15 million contract to develop a new 'dunk tank' facility for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO).

The company will build a Aircraft / Amphibious Vehicle Underwater Escape and Survival Training centre at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset.

The project involves creating a single-storey building with three pools, lifting equipment and rotary wing aircraft modules along with associated support services.

Training personal will use the facilities to practice escaping from an aircraft or amphibious vehicle in the event of an accident where they are submerged underwater.

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Galliford Try was selected for the project through the DIO's Next Generation Estates Contracts (NGEC) National Capital Works Framework.

Simpn Jones, Project Manager at the DIO, said: "Building this facility is an important part of our commitment to world-class military training and the signing of this contract is an important first milestone in this process. Building work will commence shortly and we aim to hand the facility over to the Royal Navy in December 2017."

Keith Yarham, Defence Director for Galliford Try, added: "Defence has been identified as a key sector for our business and we are delighted to have secured this first success through the NGEC framework and look forward to working with our partners at DIO to produce a top-class facility for our servicemen and women."

(LM)