Scheme Cost: £7.8 M

Completion Date: August 2006

Scotswood Road has been officially opened by Dr Stephen Ladyman MP, Minister of State for Transport.

Description of Works

Engineering Services carried out the design for the upgrade of Scotswood Road from single to dual carriageway between Paradise and Redheugh Bridge.

This work constitutes the final phase of the Scotswood Road Improvement Scheme. The city now benefits from a continuous dual carriageway from Newburn Riverside in the west to Redheugh Bridge in the east. 

The photo on the right shows the full length of Scotswood Road during construction.

Highway Improvements

The scheme has provided improved footways and dedicated cycleways on and off the carriageway in both directions on Scotswood Road.

Whitehouse Road, Sanderson Street, Park Road and Dunn Street junctions now include signal controlled crossing points for cyclist and pedestrian safety. We have also improved pedestrian access around the Plummer Street Roundabout with the installation of signal controlled crossing locations.

The photo on the right shows the recently completed Paradise to Redheugh phase during construction, from Plummer Street Roundabout near Newcastle College westbound to Park Road.

Environmental Considerations

As a result of good practice adopted in the design and construction of this scheme, we have been crowned Green Champion in the prestigious Green Apple Environmental Award for Local Authorities in the Regeneration Projects category, 2005. This is a national award from The Green Organisation presented at the Houses of Parliament.

The design team fully embraced the city's Environmental Policy by:

• maximising the potential for the reuse of materials already present on the site
• reducing the highway maintenance burden on the city
• improving biodiversity whilst protecting and enhancing existing habitats and ecosystems

Several design and construction features and methods were used to achieve these targets.

The foundations of the road were constructed using existing materials excavated from within the site.

The excavated material was processed on site to provide a suitable engineering-grade base on which to construct the structural elements of the carriageway and footway. By processing site-won material on site over 70,000 tonnes of virgin aggregate was saved and over 4500 wagons were prevented from having to transport materials from quarries and to landfill off site.

The main structural layer of the carriageway and footway was constructed using recycled material.

The existing carriageway surface, together with concrete elements arising from the site such as kerbs and flagstones, was processed and laid to form the main structural, bitumen bound layer of the carriageway and footway. There was a shortfall in the amount of materials required for the new surface as a result of widening the road to dual carriageway. The shortfall was made up by the inclusion of materials from other sites in the area. Approximately 30,000 tonnes of material has been recycled in the carriageways alone. This, combined with a reduction in the amount of bitumen required in the recycled mix compared with that required in new material, has produced significant energy savings and a cost saving of up to 20% over traditional methods.

The ageing drainage system has been replaced.

The majority of the highway drainage network has been replaced with an innovative new system that reduces the need for gully cleansing. The new system incorporates underground storage in recycled plastic reservoirs and flow control devices to allow controlled release of water into the sewer network to reduce the risk of downstream flooding.

Seven cleansing devices have been installed replacing over 150 gullies. These devices remove over 80% of pollutants (compared with up to 35% for traditional gullies) from surface water including silts, oils and other solids which would normally contribute to downstream pollution and system blockages, yet they require no power and very little maintenance.

Topsoil from the former verges around the single carriageway layout has been recycled.

Prior to the construction of the new road, the topsoil was stripped and stored for use as part of the final planting scheme. This has removed the need to import over 8,000 tonnes of topsoil and other landscaping materials.

Additional habitat has been created to improve and enhance the existing ecosystems.

The former amenity grassed verges that ran alongside Scotswood Road have been replaced with wildflower verges and supplemented with shrub planting along the newly sculpted woodland edges. This shall provide a far more suitable habitat for local wildlife, and allow a wider variety of species than ever before to flourish.

This style of planting reduces the maintenance burden on the city. Unlike traditionally cut grass verges that require regular intensive mowing, the wildflower meadow planting benefits from being cut only once a year.

The inclusion of recycled material in all elements of the construction has produced a saving of approximately £750,000 when compared with traditional methods.

Future savings will also be made from the reduced maintenance requirements of the new drainage system and the improvements to the landscaping around the scheme.