Five-year Aston Expressway repair works to cost £93m
Part of the Aston Expressway requires £93 million worth of repair works which will take nearly five years to complete, it has been revealed.
Birmingham City Council has declared that the load carrying capacity for the Tame Valley Viaduct is "rated zero".
The authority warned that the 2,034ft long structure at the north end of the A38, near Spaghetti Junction, would require a weight and/or width restrictions or even be closed if nothing was done.
The viaduct has been monitored since 2011 but on Tuesday cabinet bosses will be asked to pull the trigger on major ‘strengthening’ works, with the Department for Transport paying for most of the project.
The works are set to start in February 2021 and take more than four years to finish – lasting until around November 2025.
The viaduct opened in 1972 featuring 21 spans crossing the River Tame, rail lines, as well as a number of routes including Aston Hall Road, Electric Avenue, and Witton Lane/Queens Road
It forms a major arm of the A38 Aston Expressway which sees more than 90,000 vehicles a day, including over 8,000 heavy goods vehicles.
Report
A cabinet report detailing the need for the works said: “The Tame Valley Viaduct (TVV) forms part of the A38(M) Aston Expressway, the primary route connecting Birmingham to the M6 motorway and the wider strategic road network.
“As such, the use of the structure to carry traffic is critical to the economy of Birmingham which contributes over £40bn to the UK economy each year.
“The current theoretical load carrying capacity for the structure is rated as zero which represents a significant risk to its operations that would require the imposition of a weight and/or width restriction or the closure of the viaduct if strengthening measures are not undertaken.
“To date the need to restrict or close the viaduct has been avoided through the implementation of a comprehensive structural management strategy involving inspections, assessments, detailed structural strengthening designs, live monitoring and testing aimed at ensuring the viaduct’s operational safety.
“The deployment of the management strategy is a short term solution and is only acceptable whilst long-term plans for strengthening and maintenance of the viaduct have been devised.
“A well planned investment programme commencing within the next 18 months offers overall value for money whilst avoiding the potential risk and cost of associated with the potential failure of this vital part of our transport infrastructure.”
The works will include strengthening the steel box girders carrying the viaduct deck in order to increase its carrying capacity, as well as general refurbishment to the other components such as the piers and abutments.
The report does not provide any details around the nature of any roadworks which maybe implemented during the scheme.
