Project manager Dave Frampton with another piling hole being drilled behind
IT has caused headaches for thousands of motorists and led to businesses losing valuable trade.
But now the Highways Agency has revealed the importance of the roadworks on the A36 at Limpley Stoke, near Bradford on Avon.
For the last month, work has been carried out on either side of Limpley Stoke's viaduct to enable the embankment to be stabilised and a retaining wall on the viaduct to be repaired.
The A36 has been closed since the beginning of April and will remain so for the duration of the work causing misery for the thousands of vehicles that use the viaduct every day.
Steve Osborne-Brown, communications manager for InterRoute, which manages the roads for the Highways Agency, said: "The essential problem is that the road is built in the worst possible place.
"Even back in the 18th century when it was built there were engineers saying it wasn't the right place for it because of the geology.
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"The road is gradually slipping down the slope."
This means that on the Limpley Stoke side of the viaduct the foundations of the safety barrier have become unsafe.
Giant holes are being bored into the road and filled in with reinforced concrete at 120 points before being covered with a capping beam and a new safety barrier.
On the Monkton Combe side of the viaduct, rainwater has worn away the granular material behind the stone retaining wall that supports a footpath meaning a void has opened up and the footpath has become dangerous.
A line of 14-metre holes is being drilled into the ground and back-filled with concrete to stabilise the wall and new railings will then be installed.
The Highways Agency will also resurface the northbound carriageway of the A36 with a noise-reducing material and resurface the footpath on the Monkton Combe side during the closure.
Work is so far running to schedule and should be finished by the first week in July, but the Highways Agency admits there were teething problems with traffic diversions.
However, they say they have done everything in their power, including supplying shuttle busses between the A36 and Bradford on Avon for people taking the 264 and 265 services to Bath and supplying more signs to warn HGV divers of the weight limit over the Town Bridge in Bradford on Avon.
Posted by: realistic old man, West wilts on 8:32am Thu 8 May 08
Credit where credit is due - access to Brassknocker was open on schedule, and you even see the occasional boy in blue in BoA looking out for trucks that are flaunting the weight limit - long may that continue !!
Credit where credit is due - access to Brassknocker was open on schedule, and you even see the occasional boy in blue in BoA looking out for trucks that are flaunting the weight limit - long may that continue !!
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