06 BIRSENEWS Material evidence value engineering By Mike Povey, Project Manager, Highways Agency My job as a project manager for the Highways Agency in the Major Projects South division means I am responsible for the delivery of road schemes worth more than £5 million. I have worked with <strong>Birse</strong> <strong>Civils</strong> before, on the A47 Thorney bypass, and I was pleased to learn that I would be working again with <strong>Birse</strong>’s Business Manager, Don Henry, on a new project, the A14 Haughley New Street to Stowmarket Improvement. The project involves the realignment of a 3.7km dual carriageway along with a new, two-level junction. The scheme focuses on safety, eliminating dangerous bends and junctions on this busy stretch of road. It is a Highways Agency Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) project, a form of design and build, which means that <strong>Birse</strong>, appointed in March 2005, was involved from the preliminary design, through the public inquiry and finally into detailed design and construction. The ECI process enables schemes to take advantage of the contractor’s input before designs are fixed and permits a quicker start on site following the statutory processes but this, in turn, creates a major challenge with the construction stage commencing before all the design details are finalised. This means increased pressure on the designers. However, <strong>Birse</strong> personnel have worked very effectively with the rest of the project team to overcome any problems and construction issues are quickly resolved. The company took advantage of the ECI process notably in terms of the location for the site compound. The positioning of the compound can be key to the success of a works programme and, by including the compound area in the compulsory purchase order, <strong>Birse</strong> were able to secure a location of ideal size and positioning in advance of the start of works. <strong>Birse</strong> also had to deal with the fact that work to divert a major gas pipe split the site in two for a period, requiring careful programming to ensure disruption was minimised. <strong>Birse</strong> have been keen to look for opportunities for innovation and value engineering. Two examples are in the use of materials. First, a pavement design using a recently developed type of asphalt called EME was used. This innovative design has avoided the need for the usual first construction layer (the capping layer), significantly reducing the quantity of imported material required. Second, the fin drains (the below-ground drainage layer) used recycled crushed glass as the filtering material rather than quarried gravel, with obvious environmental benefit. Other than Don, whom I meet at least once a month, I also deal with <strong>Birse</strong>’s Stuart Mansley, Regional Deputy Managing Director and frequently meet David Huckstep, Project Manager on site. I have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with all three. After the road is open to traffic, one of the old carriageways will be turned into a local two-way road and the other modified for use by pedestrians, cyclists and horseriders. The project is on schedule for completion by the end of 2008.
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