National Highways has reopened a section of the M25 which was closed earlier today after a defect was found within a bridge joint.
The road was closed clockwise near to Junction 3 in Swanley at around 8.30am this morning.
At one point there were two hour delays with the build up of traffic stretching 13km to the QE2 bridge at Dartford. There were also delays on the A2 towards Eltham.
National Highways contractors carried out repairs to a damaged bridge joint at Junction 3, where the M25 meets with the M20.
The issue was identified by a camera operated by the regional control centre and responded to by Incident Support Units (ISUs).
The repair involved a temporary stabilisation of the joint, removing displaced components and installing high strength resin joint material. This is considered to provide a life in excess of six months, allowing a permanent repair to be completed with minimum disruption.
National Highways confirmed that the temporary repair work was complete and the road reopened shortly after 2pm. There are residual delays of around 60 minutes which are expected to ease.
Connect Plus Services (CPS) – made up of Balfour Beatty, Atkins and Egis Road Operation UK – operates and maintains the M25 motorway network, including all adjoining trunk and slip roads on behalf of National Highways.
Unlike National Highway's other 11 regions, the M25 operates under a privately-financed design, build, finance & operate contract.
There is disruption elsewhere on the motorway with climate activists Insulate Britain defying a court injunction and blocking the M25 for a sixth time, at junction 14 at Heathrow Airport.
This morning 52 people have been involved in Insulate Britain’s two weeks of motorway protests blocked the M25 in breach of the injunction granted by the High Court last Tuesday.
In statements read out last week at the Home Office, the campaigners said they are “more scared of climate change" than "of breaking an injunction".
They said: "There are times when we have to step up and do what is right.”
This morning Insulate Britain spokesperson Liam Norton added: “You can throw as many injunctions at us as you like, but we are going nowhere. You can raid our savings and confiscate our property. You can deny us our liberty and put us behind bars. But that is only shooting the messenger. The truth is that this country is going to hell unless you take emergency action to stop putting carbon into the air.”
Article seen- https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/m25-reopens-after-emergency-repairs-to-damaged-bridge-joint-27-09-2021/
Comentários