Skanska has today been awarded a contract to design and construct the A66 Temple Sowerby Bypass and improvements at Winderwath in Cumbria. The scheme has an estimated value of £23 million and is part of the Highways Agency’s Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) programme.
This is the second ECI contract Skanska has received this week, following the award of the £241million M1 junction 6a-10 widening project, in Joint Venture, also under the ECI programme.
Design work will begin immediately and following the completion of this phase, contract values will be finalised with construction work due to commence in September this year.
This new contract will see Skanska undertake the design and construction of a total of 4.9 kilometres of dual carriageway comprising two lanes in each direction, tapering down to one lane at the tie-in to the existing A66 trunk road.
New, compact, grade separated junctions at each end of the bypass will be constructed, providing access to the village of Temple Sowerby, together with local access connections.
Where the bypass route cuts across designated footpaths and bridleways, these will be diverted across the bypass using existing footpaths and new overbridges and underbridges.
A new bridge will be constructed at the point the bypass crosses the River Eden and its floodplain. Preliminary designs have allowed for this new bridge to cross over the river and its immediate banks in one span to avoid encroachment into this area, designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC).
The Temple Sowerby Bypass scheme will see much needed improvements along the route of the A66 - a major east-west route connecting the A1, the North East of England, Teesside, and North Yorkshire with the M6 and the west coast of Cumbria. Traffic volumes of over 15,000 vehicles per day through the village of Temple Sowerby have resulted in a poor accident record and sever the village bringing noise pollution and visual intrusion.
Skanska’s designer is Jacobs Babtie and the scheme is due for completion in Summer 2007.