Client: Wirral Borough Council
Completion Date: March 2005
Duration: 34 weeks
Location: Wirral, Merseyside
The construction of this carriageway was initially proposed by Wirral B.C. to alleviate the hazardous series of bends in the existing single lane carriageway that ran from Saughall Massie Road to Heron Road.
The works included the construction of a brick/ concrete bridge which was constructed over the river which required diversion to allow foundations and cross walls to be built.
The scheme also involved a major earthworks reprofiling of the original landscape in order to provide a gentle flow to the road as it was constructed to tie into the existing carriageway, which was ultimately turned into a cycleway with access gates between the new road and surrounding countryside.
Part of this scheme involved the use of foamix recycled road planings converted into road base and used in lieu of traditional quarried stone.
This product provided the client with a sustainable resource based material which assisted the Council with their KPI levels for recycled products and allowed Dowhigh Ltd as a contractor to reduce construction time on site and limit the amount of waste material that would have traditionally gone to tip.
During the construction process Dowhigh Ltd, in conjunction with Wirral B.C. undertook many client/ public consultations to ensure that the whole project was undertaken in the light of public opinion and dealt with any complaints as and when they arose.
The culmination of the project was the unveiling of a memorial plaque to commemorate a second world war American fighter pilot who guided his damaged plane away from Saughall Massie Village saving many lives but was killed as his plane crashed close to the bridge that we had constructed.
A civil ceremony was undertaken involving local school children, the mayor, civil dignitaries, the American Air force, members of the Council and Chris Boardman (Olympic cyclist who lived locally and endorsed the new cycle route through the scheme).
