A465: Two Million Hours Plus and No Reportable Accidents

The continuing project to dual Section 2 of the A465 Heads of the Valleys for the Welsh Government has now passed over two million hours without a reportable accident. It is rare for such a largescale and complex construction project to be able to report anything like these hours without a reportable accident and is testament to the excellent working practice of all involved on this ECI contract awarded to and led by Costain.

Section 2 duals 8.1km of some 40km of the A465 connecting Swansea and the M4 to the A40/ M50 route to the Midlands. It includes the construction of14 major structures, 12.5km of retaining structures and 1.2million m3 of earthworks in the extremely narrow and rocky Clydach Gorge with the river running alongside, whilst maintaining two-way traffic flows. The site is in the Brecon Beacons National Park and Usk Bats Sites SAC/SSSI and includes 4 sheduled monuments. RPS are responsible for the environmental design and assessment and provided specialist experts across a range of disciplines for the successful public inquiry in 2014. RPS are now providing detailed environmental design, site environmental co-ordination, species management and site monitoring support for the construction works which commenced in 2015.

Costain Plc Board Chairman Dr. Paul Golby recently congratulated all the project partners on the announcement of such a fantastic achievement.