A595 Drigg Junction to Fell Lane Surfacing & Civils

Efficient construction of the new A66 roundabout with minimal disruption to pedestrians and road users.

The brief

With DSD Construction acting as Primary Contractor to Cumberland Council, the scope of work included resurfacing and civils works on a section of the A595 from Drigg Junction to Fell Lane – the main route connecting West to South Cumbria, providing access for commuters from the various nearby villages to the Sellafield nuclear site and BAE Systems shipyard, which collectively employ 25,000 people.

Our scope of work on this scheme included:

• Communication and coordination with client Traffic Management partners.

• 60,000m2 carriageway resurfacing, 1,000m2 footpath works and over 100 items of ironwork renewed.

• 800m kerb renewal and 215m new drainage.

• Coordination with DSD Construction subcontractors carrying out adjacent works including Premier Traffic Management, Tim Doody Road Markings and HBP Civils.

Key quantities:

• Ac20 HDM Hardstone Binder: 3,450 t
• HRA 3514 68 PSV Stone: 3,450 t
• AC6 Surface Course: 60 t

Challenges & successes

The road was closed during the night and had to be reopened to traffic each morning by
6am. During the day, the road was open with a lane closed to allow work to continue and commuters to continue using the route.
This scheme ran for 8 weeks, with shift times ranging from 8:00am to 5:00pm on day shift and 7:30pm to 6:00am on night shift. These shift patterns enabled us to complete a significant amount of work each shift whilst reopening the road each morning to the public for daily commutes. Most of the civils works was done on day shift and surfacing works completed on the night shifts.

There were regular coordination meetings between Cumberland Council and all contractors (including DSD Construction), with discussions on how to manage the project and bad weather contingency plans. This was necessary to avoid any disruption or unexpected delays to the works. Close coordination and communication was also necessary with the Emergency Services and the Sellafield Ltd site management team to ensure emergency access was available.

Outputs & Benefits

Health & Safety: There were zero reportable incidents, resulting in DSD Construction achieving an ‘excellent’ safety rating.

No disruption: Work was successfully completed with minimum disruption to road users and traffic flow was maintained for emergency services.