We’re delighted to share that our Highways team successfully completed essential upgrade works at Two Waters Railway Bridge in Hemel Hempstead, delivering the project ahead of schedule. The A414 road carries high traffic volumes over the West Coast Mainline railway and minimising disruption to the rail and road network was a key priority and the critical road closure works were completed eight hours ahead of programme.
The Hertfordshire County Council Structures Framework project was carried out on key route into Hemel Hempstead from the A41. The works required significant maintenance and improvements over two consecutive 56 hours weekend closures including clearance of the bridge deck, verges and central reservation, removal of old waterproofing and joints, preparation of the deck, re-waterproofing, surfacing and joint replacement.
Working within the rail and road interfaces presents several challenges and required meticulous planning applying our team’s expertise and knowledge, collaboration from the offset with Network Rail, Local Authorities and our supply chain ensured all works were carried out safely and with minimal disruption.
A key success factor in this project was the implementation of our ‘Safe by Design’ approach, developed by our Highways team in collaboration with Network Rail’s ASPRO team. By integrating control measures into the planning process, we eliminated the need for a Basic Asset Protection Agreement (BAPA), which under the New Roads and Street Works Act requires Network Rail possession or supervision. Such was the success of our solution that Network Rail is now looking at adopting our streamlined approach as a standardised process across similar projects.
We are delighted that we have been able to successfully design and implement this new ‘Safe by design, process, a first for Network Rail and Hertfordshire County Council, setting a new standard for infrastructure projects working around rail and highways interfaces.
A huge thank you to everyone involved in the project for creating efficiencies and helping to save time and cost for our customer. In particular, thank you to Dean Donnelly and Steven Myall.
