This week I went along to the site office on Sossmoss Lane to meet with Dave Hill, the Project Director from Birse Civils, who brought me up to date with progress on the construction of the A34 Alderley Edge bypass and the good news is the works are slightly ahead of schedule.
The main construction works started in February this year and one of the first sections completed was the building of a slurry wall at Welsh Row, where the bypass will pass about seven metres under the railway line. The water table is very high at this point so to keep the railway line stable a slurry wall, up to 20m deep, has been built. This creates a tank around the bypass which will maintain the water table at its current level.
The main earthworks started in May which involved moving bulk earth around the site to create the right levels for the new bypass and a considerable amount of drainage works have also been carried out.
The temporary diversion on Brook Lane was completed in August ready for works to commence shortly on the construction of the Brook Lane bridge, which should take about 6 months. Construction of the Chelford Road bridge began in June and in many areas the first layers of stone have been placed on the road.
Behind Wilton Crescent about three and a half metres of peat had to be removed, a stable platform was created with imported rock and earth from other parts of the site, to bring the level higher than the existing ground. As many local residents will have noticed construction works are also ongoing at the Harden Park roundabout, widening the road and laying new kerb lines.
Looking to the future Dave said "we intend to lay black top either end of the bypass by Christmas and as the winter months approach the focus will switch to the structures".
Dave told me every day brings surprises but the "overriding problem is the ground conditions and large amounts of water we have to deal with".
The official completion date for the A34 Alderley Edge and Nether Alderley bypass is June 2011 but despite being set back by the poor weather in July and August they are currently ahead of schedule. According to Dave "we are trying to open early but you cannot predict what will happen in the next 18 months".
To view a video Birse produced as part of the tender process, which provides an artist’s impression of how the bypass will look when it is complete from a birds-eye view, visit our article Construction of the bypass moves forward which we published in June.
Anyone who has questions about the construction of the bypass can contact the site office on 01625 864900 or attend the weekly drop in information surgeries on a Wednesday from 9am-10.30am at the site office on Sossmoss Lane.
