Major Highway Maintenance

 

1999 saw the publication of a report by National Audit Office which indicated that the Borough Principal Roads were well below the National Average. Approximately 40km of these highways were identified as requiring immediate major structural maintenance.

Various assessments were made and using various techniques as required by the Highway Maintenance Design Manual, it became evident that the pavement material had come to the end its life. Bitumen pavements generally become more brittle with age while the bitumen within the layers become oxidised and loses it binding properties. Furthermore, many years of excavations by Statutory Authorities and poor reinstatement prior to the introduction of NRWSA compounded the problem by allowing the ingress of water within the pavement layers with subsequent weathering action.

The PRN project started in October 2000 when the first contract for major structural surfacing of A491 Hagley Road,Stourbridge, under a tightly controlled contract was awarded to Wrekin Construction in a competitive tender as a conforming contract under the ICE 6th Edition. The Contract allowed for a the re-surfacing of 2km of road surfacing varying in thickness from 100mm to 200mm. By applying project management techniques the contract was completed successfully on time and within budget. Full public consultation and feedback were closely followed by a survey of the general public views on this type of work within a short period of time. The feedback from this survey indicated general satisfaction and was used in the setting up of future contracts for the project.

This first contract showed the importance of working within a very closely controlled environment and with the successful completion of the first partnering contract on the Dudley By-Pass, urgent consideration was given to provide a long term partnership to carry out the rest of the PRN project.

A trial contract for the A491 Kingswinford based on the DSBP bolt on partnering agreement was awarded to Kennedy Asphalt in 2001 with an option of carrying out a further contract on the A4101 Pennsnett Road if the contract was completed to the satisfaction of the Engineer.

This contract showed up some of the weaknesses of applying ICE Conditions of Contract with a bolt on partnering agreement (as DSBP) to a fast moving contract as is necessitated by intensive works on the highway within a short period of time. In addition, it also showed the need for introducing quality criteria when assessing tenders in the future.

Since the Contractor pulled out of the rest of the Contract due to lack of resources, the Contract was completed by Wrekin Construction. The A4101 contract was then awarded to this company by negotiation.

Using the experiences from the A491 Contract procurement, it was decided to move towards a full partnership using the NEC form of Contract which by now has become the accepted method of procurement for Civil Engineering contracts.

Since then approximately 8km of Principal Routes have been totally reconstructed wall to wall (i.e. including footpaths, signing and lighting where necessary) at an average cost of £350,000/km. This compares favourably to other forms of procurement but with the added benefit of delivering the required completed schemes at consistent high quality within tight timescales.