A2 Bean and Ebbsfleet junctions

A2 Ebbsfleet site clearance
Balfour Beatty
A2 in Kent
Mar 2020
Mar 2023

Our people are undertaking drainage, earthworks and concreting operations on Balfour Beatty’s A2 project.

During December 2020, the teams completed the construction of the central reservation. After resurfacing, they will work on the verges and finish the Bean bridge south abutment.

Labour manager Mark Beer
Labour manager Mark Beer

Supporting local people

Our people include a foreman, gangers, multi-skilled operatives, streetworks operatives, groundworkers, forklift operators, and vehicle marshals. They are supported by labour manager Mark Beer.

Section foreman Miroslav (Mario) Terziyski was commended by the project in March 2021 after he spotted that a HIAB lorry was missing a plate from one of its outriggers. He stopped the lift until the plate was replaced safely.

Miroslav Terziyski
Section foreman Miroslav Terziyski

Working with our partner suppliers, we’ve provide training in areas including fire awareness, and abrasive wheels, as well as helping people upskill using the site supervisor safety training scheme (SSSTS).

We signed up to Balfour Beatty’s social portal to help record engagement delivery. From July to September 2020 our initiatives delivered £60,438 in social value to the project.

VGC provided presents for the Balfour Beatty Christmas donations tree. The scheme collects gifts for underprivileged children in the area.

Richard ensuring people on site lift safely
Richard Wheeler delivering manual handling training

In February 2021 the senior works manager asked head of HSQE Richard Wheeler to visit the site to ensure everyone is manual handling correctly. Richard spent the day on site. He delivered toolbox talks, and assessed lifting techniques as people worked to make sure they put the theory into safe practice. This day formed part of a wider manual handling campaign during February.

Richard also delivered behavioural safety training as part of a Make Safety Personal day in April 2021.

About the project

Richard Wheeler delivering Make Safety Personal training
Head of HSQE Richard Wheeler delivers Make Safety Personal training

The A2 Bean interchange near Bluewater shopping centre is often congested at rush-hour, and has regular accidents. The £112m National Highways scheme aims to improve traffic flow and increase safety.

The improvement scheme will enlarge the roundabouts at the Bean and Ebbsfleet junctions and add traffic lights. There will be five new slip roads to connect the A2 and B255 (Bean roundabouts) and A2260 (Ebbsfleet roundabouts). There will be a new bridge for southbound traffic, to the east of the existing Bean lane bridge; northbound traffic will use the existing bridge. The road linking the two roundabouts will be widened.

Read more about the project on the National Highways website.

Photo top: public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.