COWI Achieves Major Milestone on A46 Binley Junction Upgrade

12.01.2022

National Highways and its design and construction team consisting of COWI in the UK, which has been appointed as a supplier to Osborne Infrastructure, marked a significant milestone over the weekend of 11/12 December with the installation of the steel beams for the 135m-long A46 Binley viaduct. Months of careful planning paid off despite the site being battered by two major storms in the days beforehand.

The A46 scheme is part of the industry-leading Routes to Market Regional Delivery Partnership. COWI is designer for Osborne, a contractor, for the Midlands and South West Region, and is one of 13 companies collaborating with National Highways on this important framework. The Regional Delivery Partnership framework uses an innovative delivery model that encourages collaboration and rewards performance, building a long-term "Enterprise" model.

The A46 Binley scheme will deliver a major upgrade to a bottleneck on the A46 in Coventry, an important road link between the East and West Midlands, connecting Coventry and Warwickshire to the motorway network. This £61m investment, part of HE’s A46 Coventry Junctions upgrade project, will give a welcome boost to commuters and communities across both regions. COWI has been developing the detailed design of the project for contractor Osborne since 2019, with the team already recognised by National Highways for delivering exceptional performance. Further work on the same framework is expected over the coming months.

The scheme, which includes building a flyover to separate local and commuter traffic, will help promote economic growth by unlocking one of the region’s biggest bottlenecks. When the new-look junction opens, motorists will enjoy improved journey times and increased road safety, making connectivity across the Midlands better.

Project Director Paul Sanders said: "This project has been exemplary in terms of the collaborative effort by all involved to deliver major safety improvements to the network and improve the road users experience. Our design cuts the embodied carbon as well as reducing emissions arising from traffic delays."

National Highways Project Manager, Bryan Bradley said: “We planned this work methodically given the scale of the task and the giant beams were lowered into place using specialist equipment. This is a major milestone in the project and motorists can now see the new flyover starting to take shape.

“We’re making good progress on the upgrade and once the work is complete, it will alleviate congestion at a well-known bottleneck on the A46.”

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