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Cambridgeshire resurfacing project team go above and beyond to support local business

We know that our construction activities can be disruptive to local communities, and we make every effort to minimise this inconvenience. Our dedicated colleagues consistently go the extra mile to support the areas in which we work. A recent example of this dedication is by our team currently working on the A10 in Cambridgeshire, as part of the Cambridge County Council Highways Scheme. When night works required the closure of a road and layby, a local food van faced potential profit losses. However, project manager Jamie Page and our team devised an innovative solution to ensure a local business wasn’t impacted. They decided to incorporate the burger van’s operation into our work planning. This approach not only ensured that our site workers had a proper meal and refreshments throughout their night shifts, it also significantly increased the van’s trade.

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About the Cambridge County Council Fens Road Scheme

Octavius were recently the awarded the fourth Fens Road reconstruction scheme which is divided across four locations for the Cambridge County Council. The works include a total of 18 improvement schemes at Church Road, Leverington, A10 Lynn Road Littleport, B1100 Padgetts Road Christchurch and Benrick Road, Whittlesey, and we began construction  works  in September.

The scope of works include reconstruction to 410mm depth, resurfacing, signage replacement and enhancement works, high friction surfacing, road markings, sheet piling, kerbing works, gully patching and upgrades to footways. The Fens road pose a unique challenge to highway resilience and longevity due to the underlying peat. The peat layer causes heave and settlement depending upon its water content / groundwater, so can behave like a big sponge. This can cause undulating road conditions and pose significant safety issues for motorist and highway users. 

To alleviate these risks, in collaboration with Cambridge we are fully recycling, reusing road planings arising from the reconstruction works. These are used to provide a flexible subbase that incorporates a strengthening geogrid. This recycled material is used to create a flexible base layer for roads, which includes a reinforcing geogrid for added strength. This strong sublayer supports the final road surface, providing a robust and resilient substructure onto which the final surface courses can be applied.

We are dedicated to delivering efficiencies for our customer and adding value on the fourth scheme we are delivering for Cambridge County Council, so our has team been reviewing and implementing lessons learnt from  works, previous applying LEAN techniques and reviewing ways that we can minimise journeys for delivery of materials and optimising site logistics. Also, in support of our customers ‘ Greener, Fairer, more caring Cambridgeshire “ mission and to ensure we create a greener and sustainable environment, will soon be implementing low carbon techniques, which we have planned in collaboration with our customer and supply chain partner, Tarmac Ltd. This includes warm mix tarmac, HVO powered plant, high recycled content materials and plant based bitumen products.

Well done to the team for looking after a local business within the community of Cambridgeshire and for implementing innovative solutions to ensure that we delight our customer.

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