Roadworks unstuck by tar trouble
WORK ON BYPASS IS DELAYED DUE TO SHORTAGE
Local democracy reporter ROADWORKS on the Felling bypass have been delayed – because there isn’t enough Tarmac.
A breakdown at the main Tarmac plant has had a knock-on effect on the roadworks on the Heworth roundabout, Gateshead Council says.
The Heworth junction on the bypass won’t re-open until Thursday because of the delay.
A spokesperson for Gateshead Council said: “Our surfacing sub-contractor has suffered a number of unexpected delays due to a breakdown at the main Tarmac plant, which resulted in no supplies of Tarmac being available, and a shortage of experienced crews.
“This has meant that the night-time work has not been able to be completed within the timescales and this in turn has delayed the road marking and the commissioning and testing of the traffic signals.”
There will be a further three nights of closures from today, with the road closed to all traffic from 8pm until 5.30am.
Essential repair work to the Heworth roundabout started in January and was planned to last six to seven months.
The work is to repair the concrete bridges under the roundabout which date back to 1959.
The bridges which carry the road over the Network Rail and Metro lines, has been causing structural engineers serious concern after they detected water seeping into the structures last year.
If left unchecked, this water could cause serious and irreparable structural damage to the bridges, engineers have warned.
The major risk is ‘spalling,’ which occurs when water seeps into concrete and causes the steel reinforcing rods within the concrete to rust.
The rusting process causes the rods to expand, cracking the concrete around them and severely weakening its structural strength.
In the worst case, it could lead to the complete replacement of the bridges.