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CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT

A550 Welsh Road Culvert

Emergency Culvert Replacement

The emergency replacement of the collapsed culvert on the A550 Welsh Road in April 2025 is a strong example of collaborative excellence, shared purpose and genuinely integrated delivery across National Highways, Galliford Try, Carnell and a highly engaged supply chain team. Mobilised from a standing start, the project moved from getting the go-ahead to completion in less than six weeks, despite the challenges encountered during the construction phase. This improved customer and stakeholder outcomes by fully opening the road for the first time in five months.

Trusted partners experienced in National Highways work were employed on the scheme: Carnell for compound establishment, drainage, groundworks, reinstatement, fencing and DDMS survey; Multipave for surfacing, studs and lining; HW Martin for traffic management. Tyla Services, Kilkern, HoleMaster, UBU and L&W all contributed specialist capabilities.


GT’s Site Agent Mike Williams drove the collaboration from the start. In the six week preparation period, all parties engaged in multiple coordination meetings to align design, permissions, roadspace, utilities management and construction methodology.

Partnership Delivery

The complexity of the works demanded seamless coordination to meet the tight timescales of the weekend full closure. Within the first shift, the team uncovered a three metre void beneath the carriageway, exposed BT ducts and an uncharted secondary water main. Through joint decision making and effective communications with the following shift’s team, the workforce stabilised the void, protected utilities and adapted excavation strategy safely. Trench boxes, temporary supports, suction excavation and staged concrete backfill were deployed collaboratively to control risk while maintaining progress.

Improved Outcomes

There were two more unforeseen issues faced during construction. The existing pipe was smaller and a stone slab bed higher than designs indicated, requiring significant scope changes including greater excavation and backfill requirements. Despite this, the scheme finished ahead of programme. Importantly, more work was completed than originally planned, including an additional 15m of surfacing, requested at short notice by the local MP to support local customer concerns about potholes within the closed section of road.

The delivery window was met without any customer complaints. an exceptional result for a full closure scheme on a highly trafficked route.

While technically demanding, the success of the project was underpinned by pre‑works alignment, open communication and shared problem‑solving. The supply chain’s willingness to engage in repeated coordination meetings ensured everyone was “singing from the same hymn sheet”, while Galliford Try’s leadership provided assurance, structure and rapid decision‑making.

 

Who was Involved?

This project exemplifies what outstanding collaborative delivery looks like: rapid mobilisation, collective ownership of challenges, technical ingenuity and a shared commitment to delivering for the customer.

Organisation involved:

-National Highways

-Galliford Try

-Carnell

-Multipave Infrastructure

-HW Martin

"Thank you for all your help with this, It is greatly appreciated and it is good to know that if we are faced with urgent situations again in the future we have a supply chain that is willing to help and has the experience and capabilities to deal with what can be quite challenging problems."
Dave HandsProgramme Delivery Manager, National Highways