NORTHGATE JUNCTION-WARWICK

Date: May - September 2019

Client: Balfour Beatty in conjunction with Warwickshire Country Council

Value : Approx. £270,000

Form of contract: NEC 3 Option A

Brief Description of the Works

The works consisted of the improvement of the Northgate Junction in Warwick including paving, kerbing, drainage, road construction, signing, lining, street lighting and landscaping.

The scheme was the first phase of Warwick town centre’s enhancement scheme planned to take place over the next few years. The principal intention of the scheme was to drastically improve traffic flows through the town but at the same time improve the pedestrian experience by installing high standards of paving, rest areas and soft landscaping.

Northgate junction is situated in the main A425 in Warwick town centre outside Warwickshire County Council headquarters. Hence a high standard of workmanship and materials were critical to the success of the design on this flagship scheme.

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Working in Partnership

Balfour Beatty Living Places, working directly for WCC, selected McVeigh Construction to carry out the works based on reports submitted by WCC as being their preferred contractor. McVeigh Construction is locally based in Stratford-upon-Avon and has provided an uninterrupted service directly to WCC since the 1960’s and has always delivered a high standard outcome to the client.

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The Constraints and Challenges

In addition to being able to construct the scheme to the high exacting standards and specification required, McVeigh Construction is especially good at understanding the demands and challenges of working on town centre schemes throughout the midlands. An experienced management team, fully focussed on the task, took a proactive approach to problem solving and working closely with the client.

The challenges which this particular scheme had included managing traffic flows through the scheme as well as pedestrian movements. It was not possible to implement any temporary road closures without causing major traffic congestion in the town. Hence a phased approach was adopted which maintained flows and access at all times. This success was achieved by a combination of careful planning of traffic management and a day to day implementation which at times needed urgent response time due to the route being used by buses and ambulances to and from nearby Warwick hospital. This busy pedestrian area also needed careful and thoughtful planning and management to succeed. It was essential that all site operatives carried out their works activities in a courteous and polite manner towards the client, stakeholders and the general public. Their own experience of working on such schemes previously resulted in receiving numerous compliments from both the public and WCC staff entering and exiting their own offices on a daily basis.

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Successful Outcome

McVeigh Construction displayed impressive competence in completing the works in a safe manner whilst working in relatively small confined spaces where access was challenging. The handling of all materials was particularly difficult but the use of appropriate plant and transport together with a “can-do” attitude by the work’s team ensured a positive outcome.  This drew many compliments from WCC Design Services department including praiseworthy press releases.

One of the main features of the Northgate scheme was the high specification natural stone products installed. Saw-cut Yorkstone paving and machine cut Portuguese granite kerbing had to be installed by experienced operatives to very demanding tolerances. These challenges were successfully met by our skilled workforce within the prescribed programme timescale.

The delivery of such schemes as Northgate demonstrates the ability of McVeigh Construction to deliver a project on time within budget and to a high standard under challenging circumstances.