Description of Works
FM Conway has delivered a complete resurfacing project on London’s Whitehall, one of the busiest working streets in the capital that sits between Trafalgar Square and the home of the Prime Minister, Downing Street.
Whitehall, an important part of Westminster City Council’s road network, was identified as being in need of refurbishment by FM Conway team’s rolling programme of Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM).
Using information from condition surveys and highway inspectors, alongside FM Conway’s Asset Management system and RoadBotics system, Whitehall was made a priority with FM Conway’s Surfacing, Aggregates & Asphalt, and Term Maintenance teams on hand to deliver the project.
The Surfacing team assessed the road surface and decided that a 50mm warm mix binder course, with a 50mm SureLane surface course would be suitable. SureLane is a polymer-modified stone mastic asphalt designed for very heavy traffic so it gave the surface added durability, as well as being completely recyclable.
By using warm mix asphalt, this meant that the team could deliver the project and also provide Westminster City Council with both energy and carbon savings due to this product being produced at up to 40°C lower than traditional Hot Rolled Asphalt.
In total, 1,200t of each warm mix binder course and SureLane were used across the 560m long, 17.5m wide street.
As Whitehall is such a central part of London, this means that the road is usually flooded with tourists, civil servants and government officials, as well as buses carrying thousands of people to the West End and beyond. Not only that, but the area is also home to a large number of events.
This meant that a resurface of the road would be a difficult prospect, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown, FM Conway were given prime opportunity to deliver the work.
Therefore, the project delivery was set out into in five phases, which included 20 shifts over 10 consecutive days and nights.
However, despite the reduced number of people on the road, the team also had to make sure access was maintained for the emergency services and VIPs, as well as only being allowed on Downing Street at specified times.
To ensure the logistics all ran smoothly, PPM Manager Thomas Diamantis organised fortnightly meetings to update all stakeholders of the programme of works.
The project was successfully completed and according to plan without any major problems. This was a great example of FM Conway’s self-delivery and innovation between its various divisions and has ensured the durability of an important part of Westminster’s road network for years to come.
“We have been able to demonstrate our technical know-how behind the new material and provided evidence that we can do resurfacing work in these temperatures,” said FM Conway’s Service Development Manager, Alan Kraven.