§ Mr. Raphael Tuckasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has completed his investigations into the allegations, referred to him by the hon. Member for Watford, of faulty workman ship on the safety barriers on the southern section of the M1; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Graham PageYes. These have shown that there were faults in the workmanship. The main fault was that reinforcing rings either were not provided or were not inserted at the specified depth on about 25 per cent. of the concrete footings of the posts. Insufficient cover of concrete was provided around a small number of the posts. These deficiencies have been rectified by the contractor at his own expense.
A few posts were shortened on the instructions of the resident engineer in order to avoid drains but additional concrete was provided in the footings to compensate for this.
The defects did not make the barrier ineffective and there are no grounds for doubt from the safety angle but as the defects concern ease of maintenance methods of closer supervision will be provided on similar contracts in future.