A huge concrete structure that will form a new junction on the M27 motorway is ready to be slid into position. Work begins on Christmas Eve to install the 8,500-tonne, four-lane wide underpass, as part of a £100m project run by Hampshire County Council and National Highways, says the BBC.
The M27 will be closed in both directions between Junction 9 for Whiteley and 11 for Fareham from 20:00 GMT on 24 December until 04:00 on 4 January.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles will be diverted along the A27 during the closure.
The council said the project involved “the creation of a new dual carriageway, with four roundabouts, to link the slip roads to the existing road network, forming a ‘free flowing link’ at Junction 10”.
The new pre-built underpass will connect Fareham with the Welborne Garden Village development. It will be slid into place between a trench cut into the embankment, after which the motorway will then be rebuilt above.
The installation will take 12 days and the motorway is expected to reopen by 4 January next year, but the £100m two-year construction scheme will not be finished and fully open to traffic until winter 2026.
Tim Lawton, assistant director at Hampshire County Council, said:
“This is an enormous operation, one of the largest civil engineering project that the council has ever delivered. The operation to put the new underpass in place, has been more than a year in planning and is planned meticulously.
“We have got high confidence that the operation will go smoothly, with crews working around the clock right through Christmas to get the job done as quickly as possible.”
(Picture: Hampshire County Council)
