Grantham's Relief Road project will cost another £15 million and finish 18 months later than expected
The scheme has hit a bump in the road after discovering an issue with the ground in which the new phase three bridge will be built.
Grantham's Southern Relief Road project will cost another £15 million and include 18 months delay
The scheme has hit a bump in the road after discovering an issue with the ground in which the new phase three bridge will be built.
The Grantham Southern Relief Road project has been delayed completion alongside an additional cost of £15 million pounds after an engineering issue identified by the site team means that the section of ground that one end of the bridge would rest upon is too weak to hold the weight.
Phase three of the project originally began in 2021, and was set to be completed by the end of 2023, but with the new altercation, it is unlikely work will be complete by the middle of 2025, meaning this issue will cause an 18-month delay.
The bridge is vital in connecting the A52 at Somerby Hill to the new roundabout, crossing over the East Coast Main Line and River Witham.
The relief project is hoped and built to reduce congestion, disruption and delays, create a safer, more attractive and accessible town centre, provide opportunities for growth and reduce carbon emissions and noise pollution.
“THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS LIES WITH THE DESIGHNERS, WSP”
Councillor and executive member for highways, Richard Davies says:
“I’m really frustrated actually, and it, very much in the case of my view, is the responsibility for this lies with the designers, WSP.
“You know they were charged with designing the bridge, they were responsible for scoping the technical work that looked at the ground conditions, and it’s clear that, they’re responsible, and so, what we’re saying to them is, it’s your responsibility to put this right, and as this process works out we’ll see how that develops over time.”
Councillor Davies also said that he believes the designers should cover all impacts and costs of this issue.
The project has so far cost a total of £133 million, and this new redesign of the bridge will cost in excess of £15 million. In the instance of resolving the issue, the bridge will now be 7 spans instead of the original number of 5, adding 70 meters to the length of the road.
Despite this part of the phase three section will be opened to traffic from Somerby Hill roundabout, before completion of the bridge is done, this will allow access from the new road along its eastern section.
Sam Edwards is the Head of Highways, Infrastructure and Laboratories at Lincolnshire County Council, he says that work will not be stopping:
“A really important thing to stress is that we’re not stopping, you know we’re not putting our feet up for a year, 18 months while this is taking place …
“There’s huge amounts of works taking place across the rest of the site, so that, come towards the end of this year we’ll be opening up the A1 junction, so you’ll have that connection from the A1 to the B1174.”
It was also said that all disruptions caused by the construction, such as temporary traffic management, will be removed very soon.
The housing development plans for the area, will not be affected by this delay as there will be access along the road.
The Relief project first began with granted planning permission for phases one and two in 2010, later the phase three planning permissions, including the bridge, were approved in late 2013.
The Grantham Southern Relief Road project is being led by Lincolnshire County Council and supported by South Kesteven District Council, Greater Lincolnshire LEP, Highways England, Department for Transport, Network Rail, Homes England and local businesses.