UK Infrastructure: Installing Smart Motorways

As with all areas of UK infrastructure and construction, we offer a range of opportunities to those in the employment market place. We are pleased to say that infrastructure is one area that is seeing a great deal of investment in the current climate so our portfolio is not short of opportunities in the UK.

Not all of the UK’s infrastructure projects are high profile like the HS2 or even Crossrail. But there are plenty of projects to make for smoother motoring on a number of motorways already in existence.

With the government pledging £28b to improving our roads and another £10b to maintenance, the UK’s roads will see a lot of action. This latter investment will be split between the Highways Agency and local authorities for motorway and local road improvements and repairs.

This means that Maxim Recruitment can look favourably to offering a number of UK engineering and quantity surveying jobs in areas across the country in the coming years with 14 motorway and trunk road changes planned from now until 2021.

Upgrading UK infrastructure: Smart Motorways
A number of motorways have already been upgraded to Smart. These include sections of the M6 and M42 around Birmingham, part of the M1 in Bedfordshire and the M62 in Yorkshire. Work has already started on two sections of the M25 as well and there are more planned.

A Smart motorway is one that manages traffic according to conditions. This may mean using the hard shoulder, using variable speed controls to facilitate smooth running traffic, reduce carbon emissions and lower the risk of accidents.

There are already some ‘managed’ roads in operation but the Smart motorways differ as they are ultimately controlled by local Highways Agency centres via a number of electronic signs on the motorways.

If you have travelled to The Netherlands you will probably have seen this sort of road management in operation for years on the A4 near to Schiphol Airport.

The M3 in the South is the Next to Benefit
One of the latest motorways to get the Smart treatment is the M3 which connects London to Southampton. Balfour Beatty, which has a good relationship with the Highways Agency, has been awarded the M3 job which is just a short 13 mile stretch from Junction 2 to Junction 4a. Work on this stretch is expected to cost in the region of £129m.

The work will ensure that the hard shoulder on this stretch of the motorway can be used as a fourth lane when necessary. It will also include the installation of electronic signs above the motorway.

Travellers using the M3 can expect the work to start this autumn with the Smart section completed by 2017. The improvements should improve journey times as well as providing greater road capacity on this busy stretch between the junction with the M25 and the junction at Fleet.

Jobs in UK infrastructure
If you are currently looking for new opportunities in project management, quantity surveying or engineering within the UK infrastructure area, we are constantly being updated with available possibilities.

Make sure you speak to one of our consultants so that we know what you are looking for in this area. We will do everything we can to match you to the most suitable position within the UK infrastructure industry.

Please get in touch via the phone on 0870 243 0446 or forward your CV to us via the Maxim website.

Adam Cadwaladr
Maxim Recruitment UK