M25 (Widening) (Hansard, 10 July 1996)

§ Mr. Watts

I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Andrew Mackinlay, dated 9 July 1996:

As you know, I have been asked by the Minister for Railways and Roads to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the M25 between junctions 6–8.190WThe improvements between junctions 6 and 8 are under construction and I am afraid that these roadworks are taking much longer to complete than we originally estimated. We are very conscious of the stresses caused by delays to traffic and clearly we regret any delays to our schemes. But the possibility of delay is always present when carrying out complicated major civil engineering works.The section is one of the busiest of the M25 and includes the major M25/M23 interchange at junction 7. To cope with the volume of traffic it carries, it needed to be widened from three lanes each way to four lanes. It is one of the oldest sections of the M25, having been in use for some 20 years. Major maintenance was due and, to minimise overall traffic disruption, we decided to do it at the same time as the widening. This included renewing the worn-out existing road surface, upgrading bridges and installing lighting.Work started in March 1994 and it gradually became clearer during Summer 1994 that the implementation of the project would be delayed.We discovered that the original 'capping layer', which is the lowest layer of the road construction lying about one metre deep, had deteriorated to the extent that it was too weak to support the new upper layers of the reconstructed carriageway pavement. Although some allowance was made in the Contract for replacement of deteriorated capping material, the scale of what we found was far in excess of what was foreseen. The Contractor can only replace this capping layer in a piecemeal way to fit in with traffic phasings.The other major problem we had to contend with was unexpected premature development of ruts in the wheel tracks on the new road surfacing material. The material used, hot rolled asphalt, has been developed over many years, and used throughout the country. The reasons for the problems in this case are unclear. We suspect the cause to be an exceptional combination of site specific factors, which include the high number of lorries that use this section of the M25, the temporary traffic management arrangements which concentrated the lorries into one lane and the exceptional heat of last summer, which could have affected the newly laid asphalt materials. As a precaution to reduce the risk of future rutting, we have instructed the Contractor to adopt an enhanced asphalt specification but the rutted areas of new surfacing have to be replaced.Our best estimate of the likely completion date for this project is December this year, but as with any major construction scheme, this date is subject to many variables such as the weather or other unforeseen problems.The Highways Agency was established in 1994 as an executive agency of the Department of Transport, and is responsible for managing a safe, efficient and environmentally acceptable trunk road system throughout England, on behalf of the Secretary of State. We work closely with our parent Department, the Department of Transport, but the Highways Agency is responsible for operational matters.Under the Contract, the Contractor is responsible for the size of his workforce, the amount of plant used and the hours worked. At present, the Contractor works 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday and 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Also, when changes to traffic management arrangements are required, they are often made on Saturday and Sunday nights. On weekdays nights the level of activity is less than during the day. This pattern is likely to continue until Autumn.The principal reasons for the delays in completing the widening and refurbishment of this project are the problems caused by having to replace the capping layer and the premature formation of ruts in the resurfaced carriageways as described earlier.The original tender price for the project was £46 million. The contract, which follows a standard form used in the Civil Engineering industry, contains clauses enabling the contractor to be paid for extra work and related delays. Negotiations on the amount of these extra payments are likely to continue for some while.The Highways Agency will fund the replacement of both the deteriorated capping layer materials and the rutted asphalt surfacing. It will also fund extra costs arising from adopting the enhanced 191W asphalt specification. This is because neither of these problems have been found to be the fault of the Contractor. The amount of the additional costs has not yet been evaluated.The original contract period for this project was 15 months, from March 1994 when work commenced, until June 1995. This 15 month period did not take into account the major difficulties which were discovered during construction and was set in an attempt to minimise the time taken on the project. The major problems we have encountered have regrettably delayed the works and the latest estimated completion date is December 1996, subject as I have already explained, to the many variables that can affect construction progress.I visited this site in early July and can assure you that I remain fully aware of the adverse effects the prolongation of the works is having on the travelling public. I apologise for the inconvenience caused but we are continuing to press for the earliest possible finish. I have every confidence that once the scheme is completed, drivers will find the widened carriageways, the improved signing and new street lighting will provide much better driving conditions.Your office has asked about the proposed scheme to widen the M25 east of the J6—8 project. The current position is that proposals to widen this stretch of M25 went to Public Exhibition in June 1994. Following the November 1995 review of the Roads Programme, this scheme has now been placed in the new longer term category. Widening is still expected to be necessary in the future but does not need to be undertaken yet. As a result, all preparation work has ceased.