A487 at Newport Pembrokeshire resilient for the future following essential work

The road reopened as planned on 3 March after work to replace a defective culvert which crosses underneath the A487 was completed.

The work helps mitigate against the impact of climate change, making the road more resilient for the future and safeguards against unplanned emergency closures which bring disruption to the local community.

The project involved extensive engineering work both on the design and installation of the new culvert system and collaboration between the contractor and a number of stakeholders including Welsh Water, Wales & West Utilities and Openreach to ensure essential services were maintained as the project progressed.

The consequences of not doing the work would have led to a failing culvert, meaning an emergency closure of the road for a substantial period of time. Also, water, sewage and gas pipes, plus telecommunications via fibre optic cables run through the culvert, therefore failure would have damaged these utilities, meaning disruption to water, sewage and gas supplies, plus a cut to telecommunications and internet services. Localised flooding may also have occurred.

The culvert is located within the centre of Newport, therefore the main objective was to replace the structure, whilst minimising disruption to local business, residents, the strategic and local road networks.

A series of options were considered to repair the defect but the only viable option to ensure the long term resilience of the road was to carry out a full replacement of the defective structure.

Consultations took place to identify the least disruptive time of year to carry out the project and as this area of Wales benefits substantially from the tourist trade, the decision was made to complete the works before the start of the tourist season.

During the road closure, the opportunity was also used to carry out additional resurfacing work along the closed length of A487 carriageway to rectify some existing carriageway defects.

Ken Skates said,

“I understand the disruption caused by works and I’d like to thank motorists and local residents for their patience whilst the work was taking place. However, it was vital this it was carried out at this time to ensure the road can remain open in the years to come. This is a beautiful part of Wales which attracts many tourists from across the UK and beyond. Therefore, it was important the work was completed before the start of the busy tourist season.

“I’d also like to thank the South Wales Trunk Road Agent and their supply chain for their hard work to ensure the project was completed on schedule whilst minimising disruption as far as possible.”