Wales

Work on £35m Porthmadog bypass progressing well

Work on one of the largest construction projects currently underway is progressing well.

The £35m Tremadog, Porthmadog and Minffordd bypass is being built for the Welsh Assembly Government under a joint venture partnership of Balfour Beatty and Jones Bros (Civil Engineering). The new section of the A487 carriageway will improve journey times, ease congestion and enable current through traffic. The route will start at the western end of Tremadog, not far from Ysbyty Alltwen, and then follow a line passing south of Tremadog Village and north of Porthmadog.

When complete, it will be 5.3km long and 7.3km wide, plus hard shoulder and verges. It will involve three roundabouts, three junctions and eight bridges, including a landmark three-span viaduct over the Glaslyn Estuary.

Deputy First Minister leuan Wyn Jones hailed the £35m bypass project during a visit to the site on Thursday 31st March. He said: “I am extremely pleased to be here today to see firsthand just how much has been achieved so far.

“While local residence will be eagerly awaiting news of its completion, I am sure they will be extremely happy with this impressive scheme and welcome the reduced levels of congestion as well as carbon emissions.

“This bypass will be good news for the local economy and the regeneration of the wider area – it is another example of our commitment to improving transport links in every part of Wales.

In early January, the joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Jones Brothers took possession of the Ffestiniog railway in order to complete the construction of the new bridge. The tacks had been previously removed by the rail company and the removal of the underlying earth was allowed to proceed, followed quickly by the construction of the concrete abutments for the steel bridge. The bridge itself was built on trestles on site in advance of it being slid into its final position on Monday 7th February 2011. Finishing works were then completed before handing back to the rail company on schedule the following Monday.

A temporary bridge was also built across the track at Minffordd, which allowed the road construction team to transport approximately 10,000m³ of excavated material from the Minffordd section straight onto the bypass site without the need for heavy wagons to traverse the local roads.

Other work includes essential road work between Penmorfa and Tremadog.


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