We were engaged as civil engineering contractor by VGC on behalf of CVU to upgrade and refurbish the traffic signalling and pedestrian management infrastructure in this busy part of London’s tourist route.

We created new crossing points, and improved existing crossings across the busy Tower Bridge Road.

The highways refurbishment scheme to improve traffic flow included paving, along with relocating ducting and foundations to upgrade the traffic signalling.

Our works included:

400 square metres of York stone paving

Tactile paving

100m ducting and six associated boxes

Traffic island works.

The timescales were strictly controlled to coincide with BAM Nuttall’s works on refurbishing Tower Bridge itself. We managed the logistics, including pedestrian and traffic management, interfacing closely with the BAM Nuttall team. Our collaboration on deliveries and access ensured all works could finish as scheduled.

We were contracted by VGC to widen the carriageway to ease congestion at a traffic bottleneck.

We moved the traffic signals for the pedestrian crossing, with all associated ducting and cable work. We also created a new footway, extended the central reservation and resurfaced the carriageway. We built a new speed table vehicle crossover to calm the traffic and make the area safer for pedestrians.

The work in the busy part of south London included diverting footways and significant traffic management. Pedestrians were safely segregated from the works and road deliveries were timed to minimise traffic disruption.

After a site inspection in July, TfL’s senior design manager emailed to say he was “extremely impressed with the outstanding level of site safety observed, that covered all areas from operatives’ PPE, road user signage/protection, staff welfare to overall site cleanliness.”

He concluded: “In the many years I’ve been in the industry I don’t think I’ve come across a better site – well done to all involved.”

Our contract on this busy high street offered particular challenges because of high footfall and traffic density.

The project involved repair and refurbishment of the footpath, which had deteriorated significantly. We also modernised two pelican crossings with associated signal boxes and ducting.

The works included:

Removing 1,200 tonnes of material

Importing 600 tonnes of aggregate

Laying 2,000m2 of artificial stone paving.

We took particular care to protect the trees within the footways, adapting the paving around them depending on their stage of growth to ensure they would continue to thrive.

The client’s Oct 2016 inspection report noted: “a tidy site with works being carried out to a high standard of quality and health and safety with due care for pedestrians and road users.”

Traffic management:

Our precise traffic management plans managed rush hour traffic; we carried out deliveries and works at night to minimise disruption to local residents.

As part of our continuous improvement strategy, safety assessments and close call reporting led to changes in work patterns, and we added extra marshals to keep pedestrians safe.