A collaboration between Highway Care and Volker Highways has helped keep highway workers safe while working on essential repairs to the Queen Elizabeth Bridge in Slough.
Highway Care’s HC350 Temporary Concrete Barrier was installed to protect workers while they carried out essential major repairs to the bridge on the A332 Royal Windsor Way.
Volker Highways and Volker Laser were chosen on behalf of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to carry out the works which were essential due to severe corrosion of the bridge, caused by a build-up of water in the abutments, which meant the steel connections started to decay. The cable ties work together to take the load of the bridge as the vehicles travel over it, so this work was considered ‘extremely critical’ in helping keep road users safe when using the Queen Elizabeth Bridge.
In order to complete the project safely and efficiently, significant lane and some full road closures were necessary. To provide a safe working area for Volker Highways to carry out the work, Highway Care were selected to supply and install temporary barrier across the bridge.
Highway Care installed 210m of HC350 Temporary Concrete Barrier across the bridge, with an additional 210m will be installed on the other side of the carriage way in another phase, over an eight-week period. HC350 was chosen as temporary barrier for this project due to its narrow footprint of just 350mm. Its narrow footprint ensured maximum work zone space was made available to Volker Highways operatives, where space was limited on the bridge.
The HC350 has been tested in accordance with EN1317 and meets N2 W4 performance standards. It is lightweight at 250kg per metre, resulting in more efficient transportation.
Chris Smith, Traffic Management Manager, Volker Highways said: “It’s safe to say, the operations from start to finish went without any problems or issues and everything ran like clockwork. It’s been a pleasure to work with Highway Care on this scheme and we will definitely be in touch for any future schemes that may arise.”
Kevin Shaw, Senior Operations Manager, Highway Care added: “This project is a really good example of a well-organised collaboration between Volker Highways and Highway Care’s Operational Delivery Services team, in particular, Operations Manager Brett Southgate and Operational Supervisor Steve Diggins, who worked in close communication with Rob Lowe in the commercial team. The HC350 is a quick and easy barrier to install, which made this job straightforward to carry out. The Volker Highways team were outstanding in their organisation and execution of the project and we look forward to working with them again soon.”
