PROJECT OUTLINE

The £120 million Heysham to M6 Link road was designed as a means of linking the existing A683 to the M6 at Junction 34, with a new dual carriageway and combined cycle / footway to give better access to Heysham Port, Power Station and attract investment in to the area.

The scheme also included the redesign of both northbound and southbound M6 slip roads to increase traffic flow on to and off of the motorway, in addition to the construction of a park and ride facility to accommodate up to 600 vehicles.

PROJECT DELIVERY

Working in partnership with Costain during the Early Contractor Involvement stage, Walters were the preferred earthworks delivery partner for the Heysham to M6 link road project, which involved the construction of 5.2km of dual carriageway.

Although the road was predominantly built through green fields there were eleven major structures to be constructed, including crossings to the River Lune, the A6, the West Coast Mainline and Lancaster Canal; the scheme also required temporary crossings to be built across the A6 and the Lancaster canal.

In order to complete the earthworks within two short seasons, a fleet of up to 30 articulated dump trucks and 25 road wagons were used, with a number of excavators providing loading options of up to 90 tonne capacity.

The collaborative approach adopted through the schemes planning and construction phases enabled all parties to overcome a number of constraints, including the re-design of cut / fill areas to utilise available suitable materials. Granular materials were identified and clasified within cuttings to be used as backfill to structures, significantly reducing the volume of imported stone and the crushing/processing of site-won arisings, for beneficial incorporation within the works.