Harwell,
24
April
2017
|
11:36
Europe/London

See the Harwell link road take shape from above

Welcome to the latest update from the site team working on the Harwell Link Road project.

As the pictures show, things are continuing to take shape and progress is being made each day. On the A417, construction of the new roundabout has gone well with kerbs, footways, drainage and electrical ducts now installed.

Shaping up the stone

We are now shaping up the stone under the road ready to receive the first two layers of surfacing next week.The roundabout is being constructed in two halves so that we can keep the cars flowing, albeit with temporary traffic lights which are to keep road users and our construction teams safe.

The intention for next week is to move the traffic on to the new half of the roundabout towards the end of the week. This will allow us to start building the other half.On the B4493, the roundabout drainage and underground service diversions are in progress.

Excavations planned

Work to relocate the gas main will be followed by kerb laying soon after the 1 May bank holiday. We also plan to start excavation on the north side of the B4493 where we also need to import stone fill to raise the levels for the other half of this roundabout.

The earthworks for the new link road between the two roundabouts is going well, and benefiting from the continued dry weather we have seen over the last few months. Nearly all the topsoil has been removed along the route of the new road and over half the length now has its first layer of stone placed and compacted.

Traffic management

Temporary traffic lights will remain in place 24hrs / 7 days per week on the A417 and will need to stay in place until both sides of the roundabout are complete and ready to open to traffic.

On the B4493, temporary traffic lights are used during working hours to allow construction vehicles to access the site safely. This will continue until we need to link the new half of the roundabout into the existing road at which time these lights will also become 24hrs / 7days per week.