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CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT

A45 Chowns Mill Roundabout Improvements

Half-Hamburger solution to reduce congestion

Carnell were principal contractor on this high-profile scheme, collaborating with National Highways and several other delivery partners to improve the severely congested roundabout.

The extensive works saw the roundabout redesigned into a ‘half hamburger’ layout at the A45/A6 Chowns Mill junction, along with widening the roads approaching the roundabout to create extra capacity for traffic.

The £24m scheme was significant, as it was the largest scheme delivered outside of National Highways ‘Major Projects’ and all eyes were on the partners involved to deliver against imperatives of Safety, Customer & Delivery.

Using Lockdown to Deliver ahead of Programme

The main scheme commenced in February 2020, weeks before the COVID Lockdown! We swiftly implemented a robust procedure aligned with Government and Construction Leadership Council guidance. with weekly audits to verify consistent implementation of controls. Not only did we remain fully operational but we were able to re-programme and re-sequence construction activities to take advantage of the reduced traffic flows.

We instigated collaborative planning to promote good communication, higher quality outcomes through a common programme understanding, efficiency savings, shared knowledge and problem-solving.

The other delivery partners were: Chevron (Traffic Management), Ground Control (Arboriculture), McCann (Lighting), Roocroft (VRS barriers), Tarmac (Surfacing) and WJ (Lining).

 

Customer engagement

Carnell were committed to investing time and resources to understand the surrounding communities. They worked collaboratively to solve issues and deliver Social Value initiatives and legacies that were in line with community’s needs.

We achieved excellent results by offering the Community / Customers a wide range of opportunities to receive information and engage with the Team and our “you said, we did “ approach.

National Highways have shortlisted the A45 Chowns Mill scheme in their Annual Awards under the Customer ‘Making a Difference’ Awards 2021.

The Scheme in Numbers

The scheme involved:

  • Around 275,000 man hours.
  • Earthworks equating to 65,000 tonnes.
  • Installing 43 new lighting columns.
  • Ducting of a length of 11,000m
  • Laying 6,250m of kerbing and 3,000m of pipework.
  • Footway construction a of 2,500m in length.
  • Lifting three superspan gantries, each around 40m long and weighing up to 25 tonnes, into place.
  • Erecting 250 signs including 39 large ADS signs.

Early Contractor Involvement

During ECI, an opportunity was found to undertake the enabling works (diversions of utilities and vegetation clearance) months in advance, to corresponded with road closures for a nearby railway bridge upgrade by Network Rail. This meant that we could hit the ground running when road space for the Chowns Mill scheme became available and the main works commenced.

The project team collaborated to analyse, assess and mitigate construction risk and compile a risk register during ECI, and ahead of starting work. This comprised 29 risks with a combined estimated cost impact of more than £1m and a time impact of more than 6 months.

Completed in 2022 a summary can be found on the .gov website here

Benefits

Safety
  • There was c.275,000 person hours worked on the scheme. 760 near misses were captured and reviewed with trends identified and mitigation deployed as appropriate.
  • Working in and around live services on this project, led Carnell to the use of High-Density Array Ground Penetrating Radar (HDAGPR). In collaboration with geospatial survey specialists, we enabled a visual of sub-surface services before we broke ground. 
Customer
  • We undertook three Communications Surveys across the scheme. On the final one we received 318 responses which gave us a score of 4.45 (out of 5) for our comms.
  • We requested the scheme be considered for the Ipsos Customer Road Audits, the first scheme outside of Major Projects to be included. Our score gave us a ranking of 7 out of 22 schemes surveyed.
Delivery
  • We used the Covid-19 lockdown to deliver 5 weeks of programme benefit.
  • We enabled ecological off setting works near Raunds to plant trees to replace those that had to be removed as part of the work.
"The completion of these ambitious improvements is good news for local businesses, communities and road users who will all benefit from smoother, safer and more reliable journeys without much of the congestion they previously had to endure. Pedestrians and cyclists will also be able to use the junction much more safely thanks to the traffic lights and improvements we have introduced. Knowing how important this work is for people and the local economy, we are delighted that we have been able to complete the scheme ahead of schedule and road users are already experiencing better journeys through this busy junction."
Dean HollowayNational Highways Project Manager