Major Road Contract Award

Costain Group PLC
15 July 2005


Costain Group plc
('Costain' or the 'Group')

Major Road Contract Award

Costain has been awarded a contract by the Highways Agency under its Early
Contractor Involvement initiative for widening works to the M25 and the A2 near
Dartford, Kent.  The contract involves two projects with a total value of £138
million.

The first project, worth £66 million, involves widening a four mile stretch of
the M25 between junctions 1b and 3, south of the Dartford Crossing, from three
to four lanes.  It is the first approved scheme to widen the remaining three
lane sections of the M25.  Work is expected to start in the spring of 2006.

The second project, worth £72 million, involves widening the A2 from three to
four lanes between Bean and its junction with the M25/A282, a total distance of
1.5 miles, including link roads from the M25/A282 in the north to the A2 in the
east.  Work is expected to start in early 2006.

Alan Kay, Costain Operations Director for Major Civil Engineering said:

'This will be one of the UK's major road projects and is tremendous news for
Costain. We now look forward to working with the Highways Agency and achieving
complete success.'

Stuart Doughty, Chief Executive of Costain, commented:

'This is an excellent achievement for our Civil Engineering business. It further
demonstrates the benefits of our approach of building longer-term partnering
relationships with our clients, as well as the success of our previous road
projects.'

                                                                    15 July 2005

Enquiries:

  Costain Group PLC                                          Tel: [phone]
  Stuart Doughty, Chief Executive
  Graham Read, Public Relations

  College Hill                                               Tel: [phone]
  Mark Garraway
  Matthew Gregorowski


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