Overview

NEOM in collaboration with Hinko Construction were awarded this £4m public realm scheme in December 2016 by Wakefield council. The scope of the project for the highway improvements and environment works within the Kirkgate development area and highway boundary comprised of:

• Improved accessibility for all modes to the Kirkgate development area sites
• Improved connectivity for all modes of travel
• Improved storm water drainage facilities
• Improved highway safety and the perception of safety
• Improved environment and landscaping
• Doncaster Road Bridge Refurbishment
• Major resurfacing works >18,000m2
• New Road construction
• New Paving to footpaths >8,000m2

The “key scheme components” of the scheme comprise

Carriageway widening to Marsh Way to provide additional traffic lane on the approach to the roundabout , Carriageway widening to Kirkgate to provide a priority approach to the bus stops on Kirkgate, existing subway crossings are removed and replaced with at grade toucan crossings within the signal control arrangement, traffic signals install on 3 legs of the Kirkgate roundabout, extensive landscaping on the roundabout and on the “boulevard” towards the Kirkgate station (Monk Street and Ingwell Street), extensive paving to match the street-style design provided for the rest of the city centre and the Emerald Ring, new LED street lighting throughout the scheme to replace old street lights.

The physical works itself were relatively simple civil engineering however when such works are undertaken in a city centre environment with over 30,000 people passing through every day, logistically and from a planning perspective the project was extremely complex. The team had to deal with all numerous third party stakeholders, Stats companies, the public, local businesses and local Politicians.

The initial works focused on stats diversions, junction realignments, new lighting infrastructure, kerb line and drainage / ducting install. This opened areas up for the flagging teams to install the 8000m2 of flags required.
The works included full depth road construction where the carriageway needed widening to accommodate new bus lanes and turnings.

The works were phased to allow each junction to be constructed in turn, commissioned before moving onto the next.

Once each junction was complete, the new signal system was commissioned, the team would then move on to the next junction repeating the process until all the new signalling infrastructure was fully installed and commissioned.

A flood alleviation scheme was design and installed within the middle of the existing Kirkgate roundabout, this involved sleeving 1500mm dia pipes through the redundant subways and mass concreting them into position using foam concrete. This gave a highway drainage storage capacity of 250m3.

The storage system was then supplemented with a further 500m3 of storage in the form of pre-cast culvers which were designed as a highway structure (Full AIP Process) then installed by the NEOM team in house.

This system then tied onto new pipework and a series of pre-cast concrete culvert sections, eventually discharging through a hydro break into the wastewater system.

We worked closely with Wakefield council to ensure that the appropriate consents were agreed formally prior to final connections being undertaken.

Once complete the system was flushed and a CCTV camera was used to survey the pipework as part of NEOM’s quality procedure.

The works included the renewing of the bridge joints on Doncaster Road Bridge. There were 6 No asphalt plugs joints in total crossing the 5-carriageway wide structure. To mitigate disruption to the public the re-surfacing works and joints were installed one half at a time, running where possible concurrently to reduce delays to the public. In addition to the joints the team undertook minor concrete repairs and sealing.

Once the kerb lines, road widenings and flagging works were complete the existing carriageway was profile planed and re-surfacing undertaken. These works were planned over a six-week period, split into manageable sections. To avoid major impact to pedestrians and road users, we ensured that all the works were undertaken on night time road closures, this allowed the team to achieve their outputs and minimised disruption.
Through clever planning and operational management, we were able to complete this element of the works 1 week early.

The project was delivered as a true collaboration of the Client and Contractor working together to achieve the common goal. There were minimal complaints on the project from the public, with relations viewed as good due to constant liaison and the high-quality product produced by the NEOM Engineering Team.

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