Keller has competed its work on the first major weekend road closure on the A13 Road Widening Project in Thurrock ahead of schedule.

Keller rigs on the A13
Two Keller rigs on the A13 during the weekend shutdown

The road was closed from Friday August 16 from 9pm until 1am on Monday August 19 to allow site staff to install 14No 1050mm diameter CFA piles to support two new bridges that will be installed at the Orsett Cock roundabout next year.  

A team of 23 operatives worked around the clock installing the piles to depths of 25.5m, using 350m3 of poured concrete and 20 tonnes of reinforcement cages in the process.

Keller, working on behalf of main contractor Kier, has been on site since June working on both sides of the carriageway to install bored piles to support the bridges but a road closure was necessary to complete the work safely. CFA piling was used for the weekend work to minimise the noise and vibration for nearby residents.

An extra Soilmec SR95 piling rig was brought to site for the weekend work to ensure the work could be completed on time and the two rigs completed the job four hours early, meaning the road was open in good time for the early morning Monday rush hour.

“It was a great team effort, said Keller Senior Project Manager Mark Alderson. “ It was a complex piece of work on a tight schedule and everybody pulled together to get a quality job done safely and ahead of schedule.”

Kier Operations Director Bryan Scarfe said: “I would like to congratulate the A13 project team for their efforts. Working continuously through a weekend presents various challenges but by working in this way the team have significantly reduced the number of overnight closures required later on to complete these works.”

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