Refurbishment work has been completed on a key section of London’s busy A40 Westway link in the UK. The upgrade has been carried out by contractor Costain for client Transport for London (TfL).
The A40 Westway Structures Refurbishment project has seen Costain install seven expansion joints on the A40 between Wood Lane and the Marylebone Flyover, which is used by 96,000 vehicles/day.
The section of the elevated A40 runs around 4.5km through the London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and the City of Westminster. The bridge structures that support the carriageway and slip roads were built more than 50 years ago using reinforced concrete and, due to variable weather conditions, required major maintenance to keep the road network running.
Costain has replaced seven joints on the bridge structures and slip roads, and has carried out essential maintenance, concrete repairs, resurfacing and ancillary works to improve safety and reliability. As part of a previous package of works, Costain also replaced an additional critical roller expansion joint on the A40 Westway.
Costain’s in-house engineering team used offsite manufacturing techniques to reduce disruption to road users during the works. This included using temporary bridging cover plates that mitigated movements caused by changeable weather while joint replacements were carried out, as well as trialling the installation process for each comb joint offsite. This enabled the successful completion of the most complex joint replacement, which ran over the A404 and required live traffic to operate continuously on the carriageway.
Emma Curran, senior project manager at Costain, commented: “The A40 is one of London’s busiest routes and vital to regional prosperity and economic growth. Our upgrades have extended the lifespan of this section of the A40 by more than 50 years, and thanks to our close collaboration with TfL and the application of production-thinking principles, we ensured minimal disruption to residents and road users. We’re looking forward to progressing to the next package of works, maintaining our high standards of safety, quality and best-in-class delivery, to further improve the resilience of London’s road network.”
Charlotte Day, project manager at TfL, said: “The A40 Westway is a critical transport artery into the nation’s capital that has required essential maintenance works. Costain and its supply chain has worked efficiently and innovatively to replace the joints that will ensure the road can continue to run safely and reliably for years to come. This has all been achieved with the least disruption possible to people using the road and living in the area.”
Costain and TfL are also improving the reliability and safety of London’s road network by working to renew the Gallows Corner Flyover, the strategic link that enables access to the M25.
