| | Balfour Beatty Vinci Taylor Woodrow JV |
| | Worcestershire |
| | Jan 2015 |
| | Jun 2017 |
VGC was a major provider of construction personnel for the M5 smart motorway upgrade between junction 4a Bromsgrove and junction 6 Worcester.
We supplied various categories of trades and labour to the Balfour Beatty Vinci Taylor Woodrow joint venture. Our skilled operatives included ground workers, gangers, charge hands, slinger signallers and traffic marshals.
The smart motorway upgrade scheme added an extra lane in both directions. The project also supported upgrade work on the M5 Oldbury viaduct between junctions 1 and 2. The work of VGC teams included creating the stanchion bases for the overhead gantries along the motorway. These carry CCTV cameras and sensors to detect traffic flow, and electronic lane and speed indicators for drivers.
The scheme included new emergency refuge areas throughout the length of the scheme, as well as resurfacing the carriageway in both directions with low noise surfacing.
VGC has worked on smart motorway schemes since their inception.
The M5 carries up to 75,000 vehicles a day between the south-west and the Midlands. Smart motorways help relieve congestion by converting the hard shoulder to a running lane and using technology to monitor traffic flow and vary the mandatory speed limits to keep traffic moving smoothly. Electronic signs, operated by a regional control centre, were subsequently installed to manage the flow of traffic in response to driving conditions.
These upgrades increase capacity, reduce congestion and shorten journey times for the thousands of road users who use these parts of the network every day.
