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The project: M6 junctions 16–19 smart motorway upgrade
The M6 Junctions 16-19 Smart Motorway All Lanes Running (ALR) Project covers an 18 mile stretch of motorway used by 132,000+ vehicles per day – 92 vehicles per minute.
The route includes 4 motorway junctions, 37 overbridges, 7 underbridges and aims to substantially increase motorway capacity. This section of the 3 lane M6 motorway can be as busy as the 4/5 lane sections of the M25 motorway.
The solution: Multibloc temporary vertical concrete barriers (TVCB)
The pre-painted red and white Multibloc TVCB were installed 4.3m from the running face of the temporary studs and the line of the traffic in the central reserve as a new method of access and egress in place of the standard practice of cone and rope placement. Traffic management and safety lane closures for working in and around the access and egress points were no longer required and works using plant and machinery could continue unabated behind the Hardstaff Multibloc.
The 2,500kg blocks offer N2/W3 containment and were bolted together and placed on the edge of the excavation, ensuring any errant public vehicle which may, by mistake, enter the central reserve, is unable to cross over carriageways or tip down into the central reserve works.
Each Multibloc unit is a 3 metre long vertical concrete barrier weighing 2.5 tonnes. Fully Chapter 8 compliant and quick to install on a range of surfaces, the units bolt together to form a continuous run – ideal for protecting an open excavation beside live traffic.
Multibloc TVCB set 4.3m from the running lane to create safe access and egress into the central reserve
Working alongside Zoneguard and Vecu-Stop
Principal contractor Carillion Kier JV also used Zoneguard® temporary steel barrier on the scheme. Its narrow 700mm foot gives a wider working area for construction staff, plant and vehicles behind the barrier, while Vecu-Stop® crash cushions protected the approach ends of the temporary site barriers. Read more in our Zoneguard M6 J16-19 smart motorway case study.
Carillion Kier JV built its “work wellbeing strategy” into the project, which every employee was required to follow: “Be Smart. Be Safe. Work Safe and Go Home Safe”. Simple words, but they mean a lot when staff are working in the central reserve of a busy motorway, with vehicles passing at 50mph on either side of the work site just metres away. Zoneguard is fully tested to BS EN1317 performance levels N1, N2 and H2, and the Vecu-Stop crash cushions are tested to EN1317 performance class 110km/h, giving operators proven safety performance.
Engineers planning the next stage of the Multibloc TVCB installation
The outcome: no public vehicles entering the works
“Since installation there have been no instances of members of the public entering the works behind works vehicles. With lorries constantly entering with ballast and leaving with excavated muck and debris, this new method of road site safety is a smart, safe method enabling everyone to Get Home Safely!”
The client – M6 J16-19 smart motorway project
Red and white Multibloc temporary vertical concrete barriers (TVCB) protecting the central reserve works on the M6 smart motorway
