Months of maintenance work planned for original Severn Bridge
National Highways is beginning a programme of cable inspections on the M48 Severn Bridge to monitor corrosion which will involve lane restrictions and some full closures of the bridge. The government-owned company, with its contractors Amey and VolkerLaser, will be inspecting several sections of the two main suspension cables as part of routine investigations to […]
Final road opening concludes A14 upgrade works
Britain’s biggest road building project for a generation has been finished, as the last construction element of the £1.5 billion upgrade to the A14 in Cambridgeshire was opened. Mill Common – the last in a series of new link roads designed to make access to Huntingdon town centre easier and safer – was opened to […]
QEII Bridge illuminated to honour Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
The Queen Elizabeth II bridge at Dartford, is being lit up in a sequence of red white and blue shifting colours and different intensities of light for a total of six nights over the Bank Holiday weekend. The lights were switched on at dusk on Tuesday 31st May and will remain so until sunrise on Monday […]
ORR gearing up for RIS3
The organisation which oversees the running of National Highways has issued a blog post looking ahead to the third Road Investment Strategy. Stephen Bussell, Principal Economist, Highways at the Office of Rail and Road explains that as preparations continue for the next RIS, ORR is paying more attention to the quality of National Highways’ plans […]
National Highways takes on ‘world class’ team to deliver A303 upgrade at Stonehenge as it announces the MORE JV as preferred contractor
National Highways has announced Ihe MORE joint venture, comprising FCC Construcción, WeBuild and BeMo Tunnelling, as its preferred contractor for its £1.25 billion A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down scheme past Stonehenge. The planning application for the transformational scheme is still pending redetermination by the Secretary of State for Transport, following the quashing of the decision […]
National Highways starts consultation on its A358 Taunton-Ilminster upgrade
National Highways has started a public consultation on design changes to the A358 upgrade from Taunton and the Southfields roundabout at Ilminster. The planned upgrade of the A358, a key route linking the South West and London and South East, will see a single lane stretch of carriageway between the M5 at Taunton and the Southfields roundabout […]
National Highways hails “feat of engineering” as Spaghetti Junction turns 50
National Highways is marking the 50th birthday of the iconic Spaghetti Junction on the anniversary of it first opening to traffic. The junction – known as Gravelly Hill Interchange – carries more than 200,000 vehicles each day and forms part of the M6 travelling through the West Midlands. It also links traffic travelling in and […]
National Highways chats to the public about Stonehenge Tunnel plans
A so-called “chatty van” used by National Highways is being used to engage with people in Wiltshire about plans for a tunnel on the A303 under Stonehenge. Members of the project team were out over the weekend and will be this week to give updates on what’s happening on the scheme, in a bid to […]
Green mapping project delivered by Manchester Metropolitan University set to boost roadside biodiversity
A highly detailed map of the habitats found alongside England’s busiest roads will be produced for the first time under plans to boost biodiversity. Manchester Metropolitan University has been commissioned to develop a new mapping system which will make it easier for National Highways, the government-owned company responsible for motorways and major A roads in England, to […]
National Highways launches revised asset management strategy
National Highways has launched its revised asset management policy and approach with a focus on whole life costing and delivering an even more consistent approach to asset management on its network. The strategy, Our Approach to Asset Management, said that while the organisation has an established approach to whole life cost in line with its […]