UK motorway upgrade ahead of schedule

Joint venture contractor Skanska Balfour Beatty has completed work on a 19km section of the M25 motorway in the UK, six months ahead of schedule. Work on the M25 scheme between junctions 5 and 7 in Kent and Surrey forms part of a new generation of technology-driven improvements on the UK’s strategic road network.
May 1, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
M25 section 2 - operational smart motorway
Joint venture contractor 2296 Skanska 1146 Balfour Beatty has completed work on a 19km section of the M25 motorway in the UK, six months ahead of schedule. Work on the M25 scheme between junctions 5 and 7 in Kent and Surrey forms part of a new generation of technology-driven improvements on the UK’s strategic road network. These smart motorways are intended to deliver increased overall capacity, shorter journey times and reduced congestion. An overhead technology system provides drivers with optimum driving speeds to ensure that these goals are achieved. The scheme is contributing to making the busy M25 technologically advanced, with hard shoulder running and variable speed limits combining to make a permanent all-lane running smart motorway. Skanska Balfour Beatty has used Building Information Modelling (BIM) to provide real-time information to the construction teams and allow improvements to the design, reducing the need for time being spent on manual intervention. The project has utilised an electronic sign-off system which has led to a reduction in the delays incurred by previous off-line methods and also helped to save on initial project budget projections. Meanwhile over 90% of materials including fill material have come from recycled or reclaimed sources.

John Payne, 2309 Highways Agency Project Manager said, “The improvements on the M25 in Kent and Surrey are part of the £1.7 billion of investment into roads in the South East by 2021. The new smart motorway will provide extra capacity and offer more reliable journeys for the 140,000 drivers that use this stretch of road every day. I’m particularly pleased that the southern section of the M25 has opened well ahead of planned completion this winter thanks to rescheduling of the programme.”

Drivers will also benefit from the full completion of the Northern section between Junctions 23 to 27 later this year.
Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Balfour Beatty lifts bridge into place over UK’s M54
    May 14, 2014
    In the UK, Balfour Beatty has lifted a new bridge into place over the M54 motorway as part of a €14.56 million (£12 million) project to connect a new high-tech business park to the road network and to provide access for the new Jaguar Land Rover plant. The bridge, which will serve the i54 business park in South Staffordshire, was delivered for Staffordshire County Council, Wolverhampton City Council and South Staffordshire Council, as part of the Midlands Highways Alliance framework.
    Read More
  • Balfour Beatty wins Midlands road technology maintenance package
    April 23, 2014
    Balfour Beatty has secured its third Regional Technology Maintenance Contract (RTMC) from the Highways Agency. This deal is worth some €10.56 million (£8.7 million) over five years. The package involves maintaining around 28,000 technology assets on behalf of the Highways Agency and will cover both the Highways Agency’s Area 7 (the East Midlands) and Area 9 (the West Midlands). The technology service provided by Balfour Beatty includes responsibility for managing and maintaining road-side technology systems
    Read More
  • Recycled organic compost stabilises embankments
    February 21, 2012
    Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is a UK government-funded body designed to encourage greater resource efficiency. This body completed a trial with contractor Balfour Beatty and the Highways Agency to test the innovative use of recycled organic compost along roadside embankments.
    Read More
  • New UK motorway link under construction
    June 18, 2015
    Construction of a new junction on the M1 near Dunstable in Bedfordshire is starting in the UK. The new junction, junction 11A, is located just to the south of Toddington services and forms part of a new €225 million link road between the A5 and the M1 that will help to unlock growth and reduce congestion in the area. Work on the link road began in March.
    Read More

Highlighted Content