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A34 Wolvercote Viaduct Replacement
A34 Wolvercote Viaduct Replacement
- Status
- Current
- Located in
- Area 3
- Scheme type
- Other
The Project
This is a project for replacing the Wolvercote Viaduct on the A34 at Oxford.
The A34 is a strategic route between the Midlands and the south coast. The Wolvercote Viaduct carries the A34 dual two lane carriageway trunk road (Oxford Western Bypass) over the River Thames flood plain, the Oxford to Birmingham main line railway, the Oxford Canal and the A40 Oxford to Cheltenham road.
The existing viaduct was built in the early 1960's. Mainly because of water leaking through the deck joints, the viaduct has suffered extensive deterioration which requires significant maintenance to ensure it remains safe. This work would be difficult, expensive, and cause traffic congestion, and would also fail to improve the parts of the viaduct that no longer comply with current design standards. A Whole Life Costing Analysis concluded that it would offer better value for money to replace the viaduct.
We invited tenders in February 2006 and in July of that year Costain Limited, with designer Jacobs, were appointed under the Agency's Early Contractor Involvement initiative to progress the scheme through planning and construction.
We plan to replace the A34 Wolvercote Viaduct while ensuring that we minimize disruption to the traveling public and to manage the environmental impacts of the work. During construction a temporary viaduct will be built to the south-east - i.e. alongside the southbound carriageway - of the existing viaduct, slightly nearer to Lower Wolvercote and Oxford, which will enable traffic to continue using two lanes in each direction throughout the construction period. The temporary structure will be demolished once the replacement viaduct is built. Passenger trains using the main Oxford to Birmingham railway line would be unaffected by the works. Similarly traffic at peak times on the A40 would be unaffected.
Once built the new viaduct will be in the same position and the same height as the existing viaduct and will continue to have two lanes in each direction on a slightly wider structure.
What Happens Next
Advance works for site clearance, environmental mitigation and othe essential preparation works were completed in April. Major construction works started on 6 May and are anticipated to last until Summer 2010.
