Widening for key section of UK’s A11 route complete

Contractor Balfour Beatty has completed the €132.4 million (£105 million) upgrade of the last remaining single carriageway section of the A11. This section of the route runs between Barton Mills in Suffolk and Thetford in Norfolk. The work involved dualling nearly 15km of carriageway on behalf of the Highways Agency.
December 12, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
New A11 looking north, with the Elveden Memorial in the distance

Contractor 1146 Balfour Beatty has completed the €132.4 million (£105 million) upgrade of the last remaining single carriageway section of the A11. This section of the route runs between Barton Mills in Suffolk and Thetford in Norfolk. The work involved dualling nearly 15km of carriageway on behalf of the 2309 Highways Agency.

Main construction on the project started in January 2013 and the completed dual carriageway was officially opened by the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin MP, at a ceremony attended by local stakeholders.

The scheme involved the widening of the strategic route linking Suffolk with Norfolk to dual two-lane standard along its length and included the construction of a 5.8km bypass to the north of Elveden village in Suffolk. It has also involved the construction of six major new bridge structures, forming either underpasses or overbridges.

330,000tonnes of earth were moved during the project, which also involved laying around 140,000tonnes of asphalt, lifting 1,500 tonnes of bridge steel work and pouring 4000 tonnes of concrete. Over 32km of drainage pipes and 50,000m3 of earth were replaced with gravel to take water away from the carriageway.

The scheme achieved 20% savings over its original projected cost as a result of nearly €25.2 million (£20 million) of savings by Balfour Beatty, including the avoidance of national grid and gas infrastructure diversions and the retention of more of the original A11 than originally anticipated. Some landscaping work will continue in the New Year and is due to be completed by the end of March 2015.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Kosovo's highway and bridge construction on target
    May 4, 2012
    In Kosovo, work is pushing ahead of schedule on the Route 7 highway to link capital Pristina with the Albanian border. Sections of the 120km highway have been opened, one year ahead of schedule. An official opening of several sections of the highway has been carried out by Kosovan leaders, including Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, President Atifete Jahjaga, and members of Parliament, along with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and US representatives Eliot Engel (D- NY) and Gary Peters (D-MI) joined thousan
    Read More
  • Scottish mountain highway toast to SuDS
    June 24, 2013
    Highway degradation and surface water pollution in an environmentally sensitive area of the Scottish Cairngorms Mountains, famous for its whisky production, are said to have been tackled with an innovative SuDS Solution from Hydro International. Poor drainage, flooding and freezing weather had led to a landslip and extreme surface degradation along a section of the narrow A95 that descends on a 10% gradient with tight bends to the beautiful village of Craigellachie on the River Spey, near Elgin. Situated im
    Read More
  • Expectations for growth of UAE infrastucture
    February 9, 2012
    The INTERMAT Middle East event is being launched at a pivotal time of major infrastructure development in the region. As with most sectors, the highways industry has not had a fantastic 18 months in the Gulf. Not only has the recession impacted the delivery of projects across the board, GCC Governments' attention have been switching increasingly to rail, as plans to roll out a Gulf-wide rail system gather steam. GCC countries will invest over US$119.6 billion in infrastructure projects over the next decade
    Read More
  • East Africa drives towards road tolling
    March 18, 2016
    Road tolling is increasing in East Africa as the region’s countries expand highway networks - Shem Oirere writes. The drive towards road tolling in East Africa is gaining momentum. Uganda appears to have broken ranks with its neighbours to make huge strides in achieving progress with this innovative road financing plan. Road tolling has hitherto has been held back in East Africa for lack of political goodwill and State bureaucracies. Kenyan government officials have made announcements on planned road tollin
    Read More

Highlighted Content