Highways Agency

Routine highway maintenance

7.1 As previously stated within this report, WSP Civils Limited are responsible for managing the maintenance of the material section of the M62 Motorway on behalf of the Highways Agency to the requirements of the pertinent Trunk Road Maintenance Manual, issuing instructions to Carillion Highway Maintenance Limited, the Term Maintenance Contractor.

Safety Inspections

7.2 Records provided by WSP Civils Limited show that Safety Inspections are being consistently undertaken on the material section of the M62 Motorway at the weekly frequency required by the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual.

7.3 It appears that Safety Inspections of this road are consistently undertaken on the Wednesday of each week. This means that a Safety Inspection was undertaken on the day of the material accident (28 February 2001).

7.4 The following Safety Inspections were undertaken at the location in the month prior to the material accident:

7.5 The data relating to Safety Inspections is retained in a computerised recording system, such that each section of carriageway has a unique identifier. The section of the westbound carriageway of the M62 Motorway that includes Little Heck Bridge and its approach is referred to as Link 1 Section 15.

7.6 Records of the Safety Inspections undertaken in the month prior to the material accident show that no safety related defects were identified on the material section of road at those times.

7.7 The time of day that the 28 February 2001 Safety Inspection was undertaken is not recorded. However, it is considered most likely that the inspection would have been undertaken after the material accident had occurred and at some time following the morning peak traffic period.

Detailed Inspections

7.8 In the production of this report, the records relating to the last Detailed Inspections undertaken prior to the material accident have been considered.

7.9 These comprise:

• Detailed Inspection of the carriageway undertaken on 14 December 2000;
• Detailed Inspection of safety fences on 7 July 2000;
• Detailed Inspection of the highway boundary fence on 23 February 2001.

7.10 The above Detailed Inspection of the carriageway was undertaken in fine weather conditions, with a wet road surface. No defects were recorded on the pertinent section (Link 1 Section 15).

7.11 The records of the Detailed Inspection of the safety fences show that the inspections were undertaken in fine, dry conditions. No defects are recorded for the "steel-tension safety fence" (inspection code FN in the RMMS) present in Link 1 Section 15. 4 no. defects (comprising 2 no. missing foam pads and 2 no. missing washers are recorded for the "safety fence - metal / concrete" (inspection code FB in the RMMS) present in Link 1 Section 15. However, these defects are minor in nature (i.e. their replacement would constitute routine maintenance works) and are considered irrelevant in terms of the incident involving Mr Hart.

7.12 The records of the Detailed Inspection of the highway boundary fence show that the inspection was undertaken in fine weather and that four damaged rails were present in the boundary fence between Marker Post 146/7 and Marker Post 146/3 + 35 metres. This area is some 600 to 235 metres to the east of the Little Heck Bridge, which is adjacent to Marker Post 146/1. It is considered that these defects are irrelevant in terms of the incident involving Mr Hart.

7.13 As can be seen from the above, it is evident that a Detailed Inspection of the carriageway was undertaken approximately two and a half months prior to the occurrence of the material incident, a Detailed Inspection of the safety fence was undertaken approximately eight months prior to the material accident, and a Detailed Inspection of the boundary fence was undertaken less than a week before the material accident. These are all shorter periods of time than the required intervals for such inspections (as discussed in Chapter 4 of this report).

Safety Patrols

7.14 Daily Safety Patrol Records provided by WSP indicate that the last Safety Patrol undertaken at the material location prior to the accident appears to have taken place shortly after 0838 GMT on 27 February 2001. No safety defects were recorded during this patrol.

7.15 It appears that no Safety Patrol was conducted at the material location on the day of the accident. However, this to be expected, as a Safety Inspection appears to have been undertaken on that date and, as stated earlier in this report, Safety Patrols are only required on dates between Safety Inspections.

Debris Lists

7.16 Debris lists schedule the date, location, time and description of debris found on the highway during routine inspections or debris that has been brought to the attention of the maintaining engineers by other means. Debris listed typically includes: tyre shreddings, dead animals, oil spillages or material fallen from HGVs etc.

7.17 The debris list for the M62 Motorway during the end of February 2001 shows two entries for 26 February 2001. However, neither of these entries relates to the vicinity of the material location. No entries are shown for 27 or 28 February 2001.

Gully Emptying

7.18 A WSP works order, dated 23 June 1999, refers to the cleansing of all nearside drainage gullies and catchpits between Junctions 34 and 38 on the eastbound and westbound carriageways of the M62 Motorway. This includes the section around Little Heck Bridge. It appears from this order that these works were instructed to commence from 16 August 1999 and be completed by 14 September 1999.

7.19 It appears that the gullies on the westbound carriageway of the M62 Motorway in the vicinity of Little Heck Bridge were cleansed on 16 September 1999.

7.20 A further WSP works order, dated 17 May 2000, refers to the cleansing of the same schedule of nearside gullies and catchpits. Works were instructed to commence from 22 May 2000 and be completed by 2 July 2000.

7.21 It appears that the above works commenced on 12 June 2000 and were completed on 8 August 2000.

7.22 From the above information, it appears that gully emptying at the material location has been undertaken in accordance with the standard recommended annual cleaning frequency as detailed within the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual (Volume 2, 1996).

Hard Shoulder Sweeping

7.23 Records have been provided relating to the sweeping of the hard shoulder of the westbound M62 Motorway between Marker Posts 149/3 and 142/0 on 15 February 2001. This section includes the immediate vicinity of Little Heck Bridge.

7.24 Therefore, it appears that the hard shoulder was swept less than a fortnight before the incident under investigation occurred.

7.25 It appears that previous sweeping operations have also taken place on this section in August 2000 and November 2000.

Sideway-Force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine (SCRIM) Surveys

7.26 A SCRIM survey was undertaken at the material location in the summer of 1998.

7.27 The three-year cycle for SCRIM surveys would lead to the next routine SCRIM survey of the material location taking place during the summer season of 2001.

7.28 SCRIM testing on motorways is typically restricted to the first running lane (Lane 1) and this appears to have been the case with the pertinent surveys.

7.29 The results of the 1998 SCRIM survey have been discussed in Chapter 5 of this report. As reported, the MSSC values obtained were all well above the minimum requirement for satisfactory wet skid resistance.

High-Speed Road Monitor (HRM) Surveys

7.30 An HRM survey was last undertaken at the material location on 10 August 1999. Since then a routine survey has been carried out under the Highways Agency's TRAffic speed Condition Survey (TRACS) programme in October 2000. The data from this survey is currently unavailable. However, the data obtained from the HARRIS survey undertaken at the site as part of TRL's investigation includes similar parameters and provides measured values taken only a few days after the incident.

7.31 The 1999 HRM tests were conducted in Lane 1 of the westbound carriageway and, for the final 281 metres of Link 1 Section 15 (which includes the Little Heck Railway Bridge, located towards the end of the section), they indicate:

7.32 As previously stated, carriageway texture depth is important to assist in providing skidding resistance on wet road surfaces. It is a particularly important factor in providing skidding resistance to high speed traffic. Texture depth on trafficked carriageways is typically of the order of 1 millimetre deep and, during a routine survey, texture depth would have to be measured at 0.5 mm or less in order for further investigations to be warranted (DMRB Volume 7, HD 29/94, 1994).

7.33 Experience indicates that longitudinal wheeltrack rutting typically only becomes of concern if it exceeds depths of well in excess of 10 millimetres.

7.34 Therefore, the data from the 1999 HRM survey of the material site indicate that texture depth and rut depth would have provided no cause for concern.

7.35 The data from the HARRIS survey undertaken as part of this investigation are discussed earlier in this report.

Deflectograph Surveys

7.36 Deflectograph surveys are designed to assess the residual life of a carriageway and therefore the data relate to the underlying structural condition of the road. This information is important for maintenance planning purposes, but is less important in relation to safety, unless the road is at the end of its life and is actually breaking up.

7.37 A deflectograph survey was last undertaken at the material location on 14 October 1999 and WSP have indicated that the next survey is scheduled for 2003. This is consistent with the five year cycle for deflectograph surveys referenced within the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual (Volume 1, 1992).

7.38 The results from the 1999 deflectograph survey show a residual life for the section of westbound carriageway including Little Heck Bridge (Link 1 Section 15) of at least a further nine years. Therefore, these results support the opinion that there are no structural problems with the carriageway at this site.

CHART Surveys

7.39 A CHART survey was last undertaken at the material location on 29 July 1998 and WSP have indicated that the next survey is scheduled to take place in 2002. This is consistent with the five year cycle for CHART surveys referenced within the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual (Volume 1, 1992).

7.40 The CHART results obtained in 1998 for the section of westbound carriageway in the immediate vicinity of Little Heck Bridge (the western end of Link 1 Section 15) indicate:

• A consistent carriageway width of 10.9 metres (i.e. three running lanes each with a nominal standard width 3.65 metres) and central reserve width of 10 metres;
• Wheel track rutting of magnitude 2-3 mm;
• A continuous kerb with an upstand of 78 mm;
• 3 no. carriageway patches.

7.41 These data are consistent with the data obtained from other surveys and again indicate that there is no cause for concern regarding road surface condition at this site.

Summary

7.42 From all of the routine maintenance information seen in the preparation of this report, it is considered that the pertinent section of the westbound carriageway of the M62 Motorway is being maintained in a responsible manner by WSP Civils Limited on behalf of the Highways Agency and generally in accordance with the requirements laid down in the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual.

7.43 The inspection, defect and condition survey information from the routine maintenance operations undertaken recently do not indicate any problems being encountered that could be pertinent to the incident under investigation.