The move has stunned rival contractors who considered Byrne an outsider to win one of the biggest concrete jobs in London.
View Shard of Glass photo galleryContractJournal.com understands that main contractor Mace confirmed the appointment of Byrne Bros this week.
A project source said: "This has caused quite a surprise because Byrnes weren't really the favourite for this until right at the last minute.
"A lot of people thought the job would go to John Doyle but it seems Byrnes have come in late and snatched the job away from them."
A similar round of last-minute jockeying is currently underway for the ВЈ50m steelwork package on the Shard.
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Cleveland Bridge was originally named as the preferred steel contractor last June by developer Sellar Property Group.
But Severfield Rowen is now expected to replace Cleveland with a confirmation of the contract award expected within days.
The source said: "Mace is building this under a Guaranteed Maximum Price and all the subcontracts are on that basis.
"Because it's a GMP job there has been a lot of horse-trading about price to spread the risk. I think you'll see a lot more of this sort of thing in the current climate."
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