PHOTOS: see the latest progress made on Norfolk's A11 road upgrade
The scheme's due to be completed in Summer this year
National Highways have today released new images showing the progress made on the A11 concrete road upgrade in Norfolk, as the scheme reaches its halfway point.
Earlier this year, National Highways started work on a £60m project to reconstruct and re-lay the concrete road surface of the A11 carriageway between Spooner Row and the Tuttles Interchange, as a part of a nationwide drive to revitalise concrete roads across the country.
Over the summer and autumn months, National Highways says it's reconstructed 5.3 miles of road on the northbound carriageway.
In total work crews have:
• Removed 30,000 cubic metres of concrete, which could fill 15 Olympic sized swimming pools
• Laid 72,000 tonnes of new asphalt road surface
• Installed 6.2 miles of new drainage
• Installed 3.7 miles of new safety barriers
Andy Jobling, National Highways Programme Lead, said: “We are thrilled to complete the reconstruction of the northbound carriageway, which will provide a much smoother and quieter ride for tens of thousands of drivers every day. Our attention now turns to repeating the reconstruction process on the southbound carriageway.
“We know that living, working or travelling in and around a major construction scheme isn’t easy, so we’re extremely grateful for the patience and understanding that motorists, local people and businesses have shown whilst we’ve been carrying out this vital upgrade.”
National Highways say work will now focus on the southbound carriageway.
Using specialist machinery, work crews will remove the old concrete road surface and some of the foundations, before rebuilding the road with recycled material and a new asphalt surface.
As well as resurfacing the road, the project will also see replacement kerbs installed, the drainage system refurbished, safety barriers replaced, new road markings and new reflective road studs (cat’s eyes).
A contraflow system will remain in place to keep the A11 open during the reconstruction of the road, but it will be relocated to the soon to be completed northbound carriageway on Thursday 12 January 2023.
The carriageway will still be reduced to one lane in both directions whilst work is ongoing with a speed limit through the scheme of 40mph in order to ensure the safety of workers and the travelling public.
The scheme is expected to be complete in summer 2023.