Early contractor engagement (ECI) and lean working were key ingredients to successful smart motorway work carried out this spring on the M1.
Aggregate Industries was key to both works on the M1 smart motorway scheme, helping save money and disruption with the innovative use of materials and lean practices.
The M1 Junction 16-19 improvement scheme is due for completion in December 2017 and will cost an estimated £94.1m. Aggregate Industries’ Contracting won work to re-align the existing carriageway to form a new all lane running motorway - where the hard shoulder is converted to a live traffic lane.
This work involved constructing various layers of asphalt along the route on the main carriageway and central reservation.
Originally, the Highways England brief required aggregate with 63/65 Polished Stone Value (PSV) in order to ensure enough micro-texture for the required skid resistance.
In collaboration with principal contractor, Costain Galliford Try Smart Motorways JV at the ECI stage, Aggregate Industries was able to save money on the initial pavement specification.
Its technical team demonstrated that local 60 PSV aggregate could offer the same SCRIM values. The SuperHitex 60 PSV was sourced from the nearby Bardon Hill quarry and asphalt plant, while high PSV would have needed to be sourced from Wales or the North.
A ‘Departure from Standard’ was subsequently approved by Highways England, which resulted in ‘significantly reduced costs and a reduced carbon footprint', Aggregate Industries claimed although it was unable to provide figures.
Elsewhere on the scheme, early collaboration between Highways England, Costain, Tripod Crest and Aggregate Industries supported the planing and laying out of some 1,395 tonnes of road surfacing in just one night.
Working between junctions 32 and 33, during a full southbound closure, Aggregate Industries’ Contracting team used three machines in echelon to plane to a depth of 45mm across two lanes, while two planers addressed the plug joints at the start of the works.
The firm also used one of its 8.5metre extended pavers, paired with the MT300-2i Powerfeeder to allow simultaneous paving of two lanes.
A lean approach to on-site vehicle management was also key. An exceptional vehicle movement order was obtained to transport the pre-rigged paver to site, while more than 100 lorries were used to remove planings and deliver fresh asphalt throughout the works.
Aggregate Industries managed to reduce discharge times to three minutes per lorry.
Paddy Murphy, managing director of contracting services at Aggregate Industries said: ‘With over 80 years of experience in highways maintenance, road surfacing construction and associated civil engineering services, we are well versed in completing large scale projects within limited timeframes.
'As such, through extensive pre-planning and continued collaboration with all involved parties, we were able to complete this complex job within a record-breaking one night shift. This is testament to the sheer hard work and dedication of our team and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all involved.’
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