Professional services and engineering consultancy, WSP has been appointed as the design partner supporting a BAM Nuttall Morgan Sindall joint venture (bmJV) in delivering a two-stage design and build smart motorways contract worth £104 million, upgrading the M62 between Warrington (J10) and Manchester (J12).
WSP will provide engineering and design services including highways; Geotech; structures and environment. It will also supply specialist expertise from its Intelligent Transport Services team to upgrade the nine-mile stretch of motorway which forms part of a key strategic route carrying a high volume of traffic between Liverpool and Manchester. WSP will be supported by AECOM, 4way and Ramboll.
The project will include the design and delivery of new infrastructure to transform this section of road into an All Lane Running Smart Motorway – permanently converting the hard shoulder into a running lane to add much needed additional capacity. New traffic technology will be implemented to help enhance safety, reduce congestion and smooth the flow of traffic including:
- Variable speed limits
- Queue detection and automatic signalling system
- CCTV and monitoring equipment Driver information including lane availability provided through a mixture of gantries and cantilever signals
- Refuge areas where drivers can stop in an emergency
bmJV was awarded the contract in December 2017 through the Highways England Collaborative Delivery Framework. WSP’s subsequent appointment by bmJV is one of the first smart motorway schemes to be awarded under Highways England’s new ‘Design and Build’ procurement model.
WSP’s Smart Roads Programme Director, Phil Barton, commented: “The scheme will help facilitate economic growth within the region by providing much needed capacity on this busy stretch of motorway, reducing the cost of delays to both commuters and business traffic. We are delighted to have been selected as bmJV’s design partner on one of the first design and build smart motorway schemes. This represents another significant appointment for WSP as we continue to both support Highways England’s Smart Motorways Programme and strengthen our position within the Design and Build market place.”
This is the latest smart motorways appointment for WSP, which is currently working on a number of schemes including the M4 (J3 – 12); M6 (J21a – 26); M27 (J4-11), M62 (J20 – 25) and A1M (J6-8). The team also designed a 32-mile stretch of the M1 between junction 28 near Mansfield and junction 35a north of Sheffield and Rotherham, working alongside Costain, Highways England’s delivery partner. The £330m project opened in 2017 and is the longest smart motorway section implemented to date.
