UK engineering firm J. McCann is installing 500 lighting columns and accessories as part of a major 12km upgrade to one of England’s busiest motorways. The year-long project on the M1 between junctions 23a – 25 is expected to finish sometime this autumn. Work includes 100,000m of lighting cable, 12,000m of lighting duct infrastructure, 40,000m of communication cable and 230 communication cabinets. McCann is also installing technology to 27 new gantries as well as 13 existing gantries in the Smart Motorway upgrade.
The project includes conversion of the hard shoulder to create a fourth lane between junctions 24 and 25 as well as alterations to junctions 24 and 25 to accommodate the new fourth lane. It also includes the implementation of variable speed limits and associated smart motorway systems, new CCTV systems and electronic signage, a hardened central reservation and a queue detection system to control congestion. As a subcontractor, McCann has been working alongside Costain and Galliford Try for client Highways England. The company has also worked on smart motorway schemes for main contractor Costain – namely improvements between M1 junctions 32 to 35a and M1 junctions 19 to 16.
