A5-M1 Link road project highly commended in industry award
A project to build of a new, 2.8 mile dual carriageway between the A5 and the M1, north of Dunstable in Bedfordshire, has received a high profile industry award.
The A5-M1 team receiving their award. L-R from the top: Brian Griffiths, Costain Carillion Joint Venture (CCJV); Karen Green, Highways England; Ed Bingham and Darren Kimberly, AECOM; Adam Goodall, CCJV; Esosa Ikolo, Highways England; and Steve Bickley, CCJV.
The A5-M1 Link scheme, which is being built by Highways England and its contractors Costain, Carillion and AECOM, has been highly commended in the ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM) Project of the Year 2015 category at the Constructing Excellence for London and the South East Awards.
The scheme, which was among six shortlisted projects for this category, is in the early stages of its construction phase. It includes the building of a completely new dualled road, three new junctions including a new motorway junction, and six new bridges.
Attending the ceremony, which took place in July in London, Highways England project manager Karen Green said:
I am delighted that our achievements so far have been recognised and I look forward to keeping up the good work on this vital project.
The new link road will be a major new bypass for Dunstable, reducing congestion and improving safety on the A5, and reducing pressure on the A5 through Dunstable town centre.
Digital images of the new junction 11A on the M1 and a bridge over the M1, part of the A5-M1project.
Commenting on the project, the Constructing Excellence judges said:
This project pushed the boundaries of BIM by integrating temporary works, project constraints and traffic management as active elements in the BIM model. The Team worked collaboratively using BIM to define the works.
The client, Highways England, has seen the benefits of collaborating with BIM and will be embracing it on projects in the future. The team showed innovation getting more out of BIM than had been achieved before.
Once completed in spring 2017, the link road will improve the east-west connection between the A5 and M1. Earlier this year, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin attended the official start of works ceremony for the £162.1 million scheme.
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