Severn Trent to dig up roads again
Friday 21st January 2011, 11:30AM GMT.
Two major roads in the Black Country will be ripped up for the second time because workers failed to complete pipe replacements on time, it was revealed today.
A section of Penn Road and Goldthorn Hill in Wolverhampton will be dug up again as part of a wider £4 million Severn Trent project.
Sixteen miles of underground pipes are being replaced in the Penn area as part of the scheme and bosses today revealed more than 30 roads are still to be ripped up.
They said they were being forced to return to Penn Road and Goldthorn Hill because workers failed to complete work within original deadlines set by Wolverhampton City Council last summer.
Drivers were today warned to expect traffic delays when the work gets under way.
Goldthorn Hill will be disrupted for 40 days from April 26 to June 20.
Temporary traffic lights will again be installed in Penn Road for a fortnight in August.
And one lane of the road will be shut from its junction with Goldthorn Hill past Wynn Road.
The project in Penn Road caused long tailbacks last summer, while some traders claimed that the work had affected their businesses.
In total, 37 streets surrounding and including Penn Road remain to be dug up as part of the roadworks project.
Programme engineer Dave Kiernan said seven miles of water mains had so far been replaced, with a further nine miles to go.
He said prolonged spells of freezing weather in December had set the scheme back by six to eight weeks.
The project is due to finish in November, but Mr Kiernan hoped it would be complete by June.
He said: “We need to go back to Penn Road because we couldn’t get the works finished in the school summer holidays.
“We will be going back for two weeks and it will be reduced to one lane.
“There have been delays with other works because the gas board takes priority and we have had to wait for them.”
Mains in more than 60 streets are being upgraded as part of the £4 million works which started last May.
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No surprise! It’s a sign that Wolverhampton is a Labour controlled council now!
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Was it not A Tory council last summer??
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No, it wasn’t. It was a coalition council last summer! I’m guessing that would be why Severn Trent were given a strict deadline to work to. However, under the Labour controlled council it is a case of take as long as you like and stuff the taxpayers of Wolverhampton. Same old Labour!
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So why would it be Labours fault then??
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And why would you say take as long as you like when they put strict time limits on it anyway?? Please comment on the facts!
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What ever council is in power, makes no difference what so ever. STW have strict rules to work to when working on the highway.The contractor has to apply for a notice period of work when they are going to start and finish work and if they go over these dead lines then there are penalty clauses.So don’t get blaming the council all they do is issue a permit to work within the requested time limit set by the contractor.
But when you read some of the comments made by the engineer i think its laughable
“He said prolonged spells of freezing weather in December had set the scheme back by six to eight weeks.” isnt it always cold and freezing in december…!
“There have been delays with other works because the gas board takes priority and we have had to wait for them.” what rubbish, the purpose of the NRSWA 1991 is to coordinate with other utility companies to prevent this type of situation from happening..!
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I had to check but there wasn’t even a hint of an apology. Here’s a tip for you STW, while the roadworks are in place it helps to get things finished if you actually have people there working. It’s not a difficult concept.
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@ Rupert..this has nothign to do with WCC. STW failed to complete work on time and will have to had to apply for road closures etc.
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Don’t these people have penalty clauses written into their contracts about work having to be satisfactorily completed by a certain date?
If penalty clauses are good enough for businesses then they are certainly good enough for Councils!
Blaming the weather is a poor excuse for workers who are either slow, want to maximise their earnings or are happy to be employed on a local job with little or no distance to travel.
As for Severn-Trent, they create havoc almost everywhere they go, leaving work haphazardly completed or just like this one, only half finished and when returning, will cause even more disruption to motorists and/or pedestrians alike.
Wolverhampton Council, SORT IT OUT!
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why do these people need to put water mains under roads why not split the mains and use the pavements.
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It has nothing to do with the council why these works have not been completed in time, and on schedule. it comes down to STW and their appointed contractors who messed up. When you have to carry out work on the highway, the company carrying out the work has to apply for an opening and closing notice(section 74 NRSWA 1991) with specific dates as to when the work begins and when the work is to be completed.(an extension can be applied for) under the NRSWA 1991 (section 74).Obviously the planners and construction designers got it wrong and now its down to us “the public” who have to suffer.Hopefully the local authority will enforce Section 74 and fines introduced, this can be up to £2000 a day depending on circumstances.
But does any body care, i don’t think anyone does.I have passed these works whilst they were going on last year as its on my route to wolverhampton and i couldn’t help noticing how poor the site was managed and no work being done.
I don’t no when the work is due to start again but it will be well worth keeping a look out as to whats happening.Drop me a line if you need any advice or luck it up under NRSWA…
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Why should a company apologise for bringing clean water to the area. Utility companies maintaining there infastructue is a credit to the company. People who whinge about a bit of traffic disruption take water, gas and electricity for granted.
Trust me if you came home and the lights didn’t turn on, no heat and the taps were dry. You would really have somthing to make a fuss about.
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