January 2025 Update 2: Click here to download (PDF)
January 2025: Click here to download (PDF)
December 2024: Click here to download (PDF)
November 2024: Click here to download (PDF)
A435 Evesham Road Land Stabilisations Works
MONTEL
A435 Evesham Road Land Stabilisations Works
Updates
Information
Residents Letters
Updates
January 2025
We’re pleased to announce that the majority of our planned works are now complete.
Just before the Christmas break, we successfully installed the sheet piling wall to the top and bottom of the embankment and were undertaking the burning off process to ensure the sheet piles were cut to the required length. This work has now been fully completed ahead of schedule. The sheet piling wall serves as a retaining structure, supporting the road and preventing future ground movement.
Last week, drainage was installed on the embankment, and the road was fully prepared for resurfacing works, which took place overnight on Monday 20th January. We’re pleased to report that the resurfacing of the carriageway was completed in just one night, with no contingency required.
With the surfacing to the carriageway and footway now finished, the team is completing topsoil reinstatement on the embankment before beginning site demobilisation. This will include the removal of site and welfare facilities and ensuring the area is left in a good condition.
As we are ahead of schedule, we will be removing the two-way temporary traffic signals today, ahead of this weekend’s Cheltenham Racecourse meeting. The two-way traffic signals will need to be redeployed in the coming weeks for short durations for finishing works. The site handover to the Council remains on track for mid-February.
We appreciate your patience and understanding throughout these essential works, including the overnight road closure and temporary traffic management.
Overnight road closure – 20th January 2025, 8pm-6am
To carry out the resurfacing works, a road closure will be required on the A435 Evesham Road between Racecourse Roundabout and Hyde Lane junction.
This closure is scheduled to begin at 8pm on Monday 20th January until 6am on Tuesday 21st January. As the works are weather dependent, Tuesday night has been booked as a contingency. An adequate diversion route will be in place and we ask that you follow all diversionary signage.
Access will be maintained for residents within the closure area (access for emergency services will also be maintained).
To carry out the resurfacing works, a road closure will be required on the A435 Evesham Road between Racecourse Roundabout and Hyde Lane junction.
As details on road closures can be subject to change lastminute, this will be communicated via social media (Gloucestershire County Council and Montel’s) and through emailing our mailing list. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please email Suzanne at suzanne.wright@montel-group.com as soon as possible.
January 2025
As 2024 came to a close, significant progress was achieved in the project. The installation of sheet piles along both the top and bottom of the embankment is now complete marking a major milestone in finishing the sheet pile wall. The burning off process to both sets of sheet piles is also underway and is scheduled for completion early in the new year.
Before the festive period, a detailed survey of the existing drainage was conducted, as were core samples taken from the carriageway to test for the presence of contaminants. This testing has allowed us to proceed with the preparation of carriageway reinstatement works. We have started removing the affected section of carriageway that was subsiding, which involves excavating the existing surfacing down to its foundation level. Once this has been completed, we will rebuild the base layers to strengthen and stabilise the road, ready for the top surface layer to be applied to finish the carriageway resurfacing works.
December 2024
We are pleased to report that the works are progressing well, with significant progress being made over the past 2 weeks.
The sheet piling for this project involves the installation of two sheet pile walls to the top and bottom of the embankment to ensure long-term stability. Before starting the installation, trial holes were excavated to locate BT and electric cables, ensuring there were no conflicts with the planned piling works.
The sheet piling works to the bottom of the embankment commenced on 25th November, which involved the preparation of the ground by excavating trenches and pre-auguring. Six-metre long sheet piles were then driven into the ground using a piling rig until they reached their intended depth of five metres. The piling rig being used is a highly advanced and unique, long-reach telescopic leader rig, and is bigger than any comparable rig in the UK. This equipment minimises disruption to the surrounding environment and work area while enabling faster and safer installation. So far, 170 metres of sheet piles have been installed at the bottom of the embankment, and this stage is expected to be completed in the next few days. The final metre of each pile will then be removed via burning off to complete the process.
Once the bottom of the embankment is complete, the focus will shift to the installation of sheet piles to the top of the embankment which will involve a similar process. Additional activities to be completed over the next couple of weeks will involve operatives surveying the existing drainage to connect to when the piling is complete and core samples to be taken from the carriageway to test for the presence of contaminants prior to surfacing works commencing.
Temporary two-way traffic signals will remain in operation. For The Christmas Meeting on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th December at Cheltenham Racecourse, our traffic management will be replaced by Cheltenham Racecourse’s traffic management to ensure smooth traffic flow for visitors attending the meeting.
November 2024
Montel commenced on site on 4th November, and the progress to date includes:
- The preparation and set up of a site compound with office and welfare facilities for the team in the land adjacent to the works.
- Fencing has been erected along the roadside to ensure the safety of both road users and pedestrians when piling works commence.
- Montel operatives have undertaken trial holes, ground testing and sampling to assess the existing ground conditions. This included ground-bearing tests to confirm the grounds capacity to support maximum loads that will be applied during the piling works.
- A piling platform has been constructed at the bottom of the embankment to accommodate the piling rig and crane. This process involved stripping the topsoil, laying a geotextile membrane followed by a layer of geogrid to improve the bearing capacity. Material was then placed and compacted in layers to create the working platform.
- Vibration monitors have been installed along the length of the proposed sheet piled wall to monitor the vibration levels during the works and ensure these do not exceed the maximum levels specified by the utility providers that have infrastructure running along the highway verge.
Over the next two weeks, the team will excavate additional trial holes to locate and expose the electric cables and fibre optic lines mentioned above to ensure there are no clashes with the proposed piling works. The piling works will commence on 25th November for approximately eight weeks including the Christmas shutdown.
Temporary two-way traffic signals will remain in operation throughout the duration of the project. When the piling operation commences the existing footway along the A435 will be closed and pedestrians will be required to use the public right of way on the opposite side of the road adjacent to the Cheltenham Racecourse boundary fence line.
Information
Montel Civil Engineering has been appointed by Gloucestershire County Council as the main contractor to undertake the land stabilisation works on the A435 Evesham Road. The section of road, located south of the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire steam railway bridge, has faced persistent issues over the years including excessive movement, cracking and landslips. This project will involve the installation of a sheet pile wall in the embankment which is designed to deliver a permanent solution to improve the structural integrity of the road and prevent future ground movement, making it safer for all road users.
The works will commence in November 2024, and it is anticipated that the works will be completed in February 2025.
For the duration of the works, two-way temporary traffic signals will be required and road closures towards the end of the project may be needed for resurfacing works.
To find out more about this scheme and to receive regular updates, you can visit Gloucestershire County Council’s website at:
https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/major-projects-list/a435-improvement-schemes/a435-evesham-road-landslip
Montel has a dedicated Community Liaison Officer, Suzanne Wright, who will provide regular updates either through social media channels or regular newsletters. Please contact Suzanne on suzanne.wright@montel-group.com if you have any specific queries or concerns or would like to be added to the mailing list.
Residents Letters