A66 Redhills resurfacing, Penrith, Cumbria

This scheme took place on a major trunk road connecting West Cumbria and the North East, therefore the road had to be reopened on time every day.

The project scope

With DSD Construction acting as subcontractor, our scope of work on this scheme was to undertake all resurfacing works on a stretch of the A66 at Redhills, Penrith – a major trunk road connecting West Cumbria to North East England.

Our scope of work on this scheme included:

• Communication and coordination with client Traffic Management partners.
• Planed out 6,100t of original carriageway
• Re-laying the carriageway to depths of 200mm and 50mm using various PSVs.
• Installation of geogrid, supplied by Asphalt Reinforcement, to help strengthen the carriageway.
• Coordination with other National Highways contractors carrying out adjacent works including Premier Road Markings, TYLA for verge works and Octavius for civils works (who were the Principal Contractor).

Key quantities:

• Ultipave 55,65,68 PSV: 3,000 t
• AC20 HDM binder hardstone: 3,000 t
• AC32 HDM base: t

Challenges & successes

Works were carried out on night shifts under full road closure of either the eastbound or westbound carriageway, with a running lane open at all times for residents, emergency services, nearby depots and the local auction mart.

The road had to be reopened to traffic each morning by 6am, meaning that any areas planed during the night shift also had to be re-laid to avoid disruption to the public the following morning.

This scheme ran for 4 weeks, with shift times from 8:00pm to 6:00am or 10:00pm to 6:00am, allowing us to complete significant work each shift whilst reopening the road each morning to the public for daily commutes.

There were regular coordination meetings between all contractors on this scheme with discussions on how to manage the project and bad weather contingency plans. This was necessary to avoid any disruption or unexpected delays to works.

To mitigate risk, we worked closely with our supply chain to provide backup quarries and asphalt batching plant at Aggregate Industries’ two local quarries – Hulands and Back Lane. We also provided back up plant which was located less than 5 minutes away from the works for immediate deployment in case of breakdown.