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

  • Balfour Beatty join new UK Midlands Highways Alliance framework
    June 12, 2014
    Balfour Beatty has been appointed by the Midlands Highways Alliance, a collection of twenty UK local authorities, to the Midlands Highways Alliance Medium Schemes Framework Two (MSF2) which will deliver up to €322.87 million (£261 million) of transport infrastructure over the next three years. Under the framework, the company will deliver the construction of new transport infrastructure schemes such as bridges, roads and public transport schemes such as park and rides, bus stops and bus lanes. Balfour Bea
    Read More
  • Slovakia tunnel sections underway but some delays
    January 23, 2018
    The route for new tunnel links for Slovakia’s D1 highway has been agreed. New tunnels now look set to be built on the 13.5km stretch between Turany and Hubova section of the D1 highway. This plan calls for the construction of the Korbelka and Havran tunnels at an estimated cost of €900 million. Building these two links would bypass the Lower Fatra mountain range, with the Korbelka Tunnel measuring 5.9km and the Havran Tunnel measuring 2.9km long. The Slovak Environment Ministry rejected an appeal against th
    Read More
  • UK average speed camera installation proving successful
    January 27, 2015
    Data from the A9 route in Scotland shows that the installation of average speed camera technology is helping cut crashes. This is Europe’s longest single enforcement scheme, with the technology having been installed along a 220km stretch of the A9 in Scotland. Figures from the route show that the average speed enforcement scheme, which uses SPECS technology supplied by Vysionics, is helping cut casualties while improving journey reliability and driver behaviour.
    Read More
  • Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh benefiting from major transport investment
    September 9, 2013
    Saudi Arabia is undergoing a series of upgrades to its transport network in a bid to improve Traffic flow rates and boost safety - Mike Woof reports. The massive growth in the use of motor transport worldwide since the start of the 20th century has transformed every country on the planet. But perhaps no country has changed more dramatically than Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil producer. At the start of the 20th century Saudi Arabia’s population was small and the country had few industries while it is
    Read More

Highlighted Content