Opened eight months ahead of schedule, the £1.5 billion road improvement project upgraded 21 miles of the A14 to three lanes in each direction with four lanes between Bar Hill and Girton. Adding additional capacity, the project helped boost the local and national economy and reduced journey times by up to 20 minutes.
Cutting edge technology
The A14 has been at the cutting edge of using new technology to deliver more effective, safer and sustainable solutions. The A14 Integrated Delivery Team (IDT) - comprised of the contractors; Balfour Beatty, Costain and Skanska and the designers; AtkinsRéalis and Jacobs and National Highways - adopted innovative and sustainable construction methods, that helped the scheme complete earlier than scheduled. Utilising digital asset management and in-field visualisation software SiteVision, the team planned and designed complex routes for utility diversions in a safe and efficient way, therefore saving time and cost.
Self-driving trucks were tested for the first time in England on this project. The trucks were programmed remotely to follow a pre-determined route and were able to detect and avoid obstacles and other vehicles on the route. The successful trial will help reduce on-site activity in the future.
Environmental benefits
The IDT have taken environmental commitments seriously and planted two trees for every one that had to be removed for the new road to be built. This resulted in around 900,000 trees and shrubs being planted, helping ensure that disruption to the nearby environment was kept to a minimum.
of earth moved
of the A14 upgraded
project value
The team also carefully moved 10,000,000 m³ of earth - equivalent to around four Great Pyramids of Giza - using trained excavator operators who understand the archaeological impact of the work they carried out. This important work allowed areas of historic interest to be investigated or preserved.
Awards and accolades
At the 2019 British Construction Industry Awards, the A14 team took home awards in the categories of Digital Transformation Initiative of the Year, Productivity Initiative of the Year, Partnership Initiative of the Year as well as winning the coveted Initiative of the Year award.
The team were also presented with three prestigious RoSPA Gold awards, recognising the IDT’s practices and achievements which ensured that staff, supply chain partners and customers got home safely at the end of every working day.
The scheme was the first highways project accepted as a Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) Ultra Site. This recognised the team’s commitment to encourage its supply chain to help improve the CCS standards and work innovatively. The project was awarded Ultra Site of the year in summer 2019, highlighting the teams collaborative working.
The project has won 35 awards to date, with other awards including the rescue project of the year 2019, presented by the Current Archaeology awards. These accolades highlight the team’s focus on collaboration, health and safety and keeping the customer at the heart of delivering the project.