Oxford,
13
July
2018
|
14:45
Europe/London

A423 Kennington Railway Bridge maintenance works

Work to maintain a bridge which carries one of Oxford’s main commuter routes will not have a major impact on traffic, according to county council engineers.

The county council will begin work on the central reserve and verges of Kennington Railway Bridge on the A423 Oxford Southern Ring Road at Kennington on 17 July 2018, with traffic restrictions from the night of 20 July 2018.

Costing £1m, the work is expected to last around 13 weeks, with most of the activity taking place at night to minimise traffic disruption.

Waterproofing and re-sealing

The team will be re-waterproofing the bridge deck in the verges and central reserve and re-sealing the bridge deck expansion joints to make it watertight prior to carrying out repair works beneath the bridge in 2019.

The paving, kerbs, sub-surface drainage, street lights and surround to a trunk watermain in the central reserve will be replaced to facilitate these works. The safety barriers will also need be taken up and reinstalled.

Temporary safety barriers will be put up along the edges of the carriageway to protect motorists, which will require the traffic lanes to be narrowed slightly. When work is taking place the carriageway will be further narrowed to a single lane in each direction. A temporary 30 mph speed restriction will be put in place for safety.

At least three overnight road closures will be needed for installing and removing safety equipment. The first closure is planned for the night of 20 July from 8pm to 5 am the following morning.

Closures and diversions

The second and third overnight closures are anticipated for 19 August and 29 September. Signs are now on the A423 advising drivers of the closures. These dates are subject to change depending on the progress of the work.

A diversion route for when the road is closed will be signed.

We are working together with our partners on the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme to do some further ground investigation work on the A423 in preparation for the scheme, whilst lanes are closed. The work will involve drilling four boreholes to find out more about the material below the proposed culverts. We are saving money and preventing further future lane closures by working in partnership and doing this work at the same time.