Civil engineering specialist GRAHAM has completed a £1.9m package of concrete road repairs along the A12 at Kelvedon for Highways England ahead of schedule during the November/December lockdown period.
The works, which took place along the A12 Chelmsford-Colchester corridor at Junctions 22 to 24 north and southbound, involved resurfacing and concrete repairs. These have extended the life of the existing pavement and the renewal of all road markings and studs using innovative solar studs to enhance driver experience.
As part of the package, GRAHAM’s project team also delivered a concrete repair and maintenance scheme to extend the life of the existing concrete pavement on the A12 Witham to Kelvedon and Kelvedon Bypass (Northbound and Southbound Carriageways).
The works will extend the lifespan of the roads by around 7 years and make them easier and quicker to repair in future. Innovative active solar LED road studs were installed as part of the schemes which aid visibility at carriageway level through this section of the A12.
With COVID-19 restrictions in place during the scheme, GRAHAM delivered works during and Monday morning and three extended full weekend closures from Thursday nights to Tuesday mornings, to make the most of the reduced traffic on the network.
With the full support of Highways England, the programme was reduced from seven standard weekends to four extended weekends, enabling other planned Highways England works to continue during January.
The works involved extensive stakeholder liaison with the local highways authorities, residents, businesses, Essex Fire & Rescue HQ, and Network Rail to ensure rail replacement services could continue to operate uninterrupted.
The package of works was awarded to GRAHAM as part of Highway England’s OD East Collaborative Delivery Framework (CDF) in the East of England, which it has worked on since 2017.
Dave Brown, Highways Director for GRAHAM, said:
“We’re pleased to have completed these important repairs and upgrades to the A12 at Kelvedon working collaboratively with Highways England. Our work has provided a modern road that will support travel for decades to come.
“This was a challenging scheme, with weather delays during works meaning that a small number of overnight closures were required, but our works were substantially delivered over four extended weekends, completing in December, ahead of programme, under budget and with a reduced impact on the network for all customers and stakeholders.”
Dave added: “This is another excellent example of our highways capabilities. By delivering a high volume of repairs in a short timescale we were able to complete the scheme less than three months after the initial contract award, to the satisfaction of our client. I’d like to congratulate the project team on another successful delivery for Highways England and a job well done.”
Karl Brooks, Highways England Programme Delivery Manager, said:
“Under normal circumstances, up to 80,000 drivers use this stretch of the A12 every day for work journeys and home deliveries, visits to friends and family, holidays, and the movement of the goods and services. Working alongside GRAHAM, we delivered these vital concrete road surface upgrades three weeks ahead of the original schedule, meaning we could minimise the disruption to local residents and drivers, while ensuring the A12 is fit for journeys for many years into the future.”
As an integral part of Highways England’s supply chain, one of GRAHAM’s strategic priorities is to continue developing this strong collaborative relationship.
These latest schemes follow GRAHAM’s previous five packages delivered through the CDF framework in the East region between 2017 and 2020 across the A1, A47, A14, A11, A12 A1, A421, M1, M11.