M6 J10 Improvements

[KILLER KNIGHT]

These dishonest morons…!

[Big L]

These dishonest morons…!

Not dishonest. Net very competent, apparently. Forgetting that it sometimes snows and gets cold in winter isn’t too clever.

[KeithW]

Not dishonest. Net very competent, apparently. Forgetting that it sometimes snows and gets cold in winter isn’t too clever.

Well as an old construction man I know you are always in the hands of the weather gods. Of course they could have waited until easter or even summer but that would not have been popular either. Heads you dont win, tails you lose.

[KILLER KNIGHT]

Not dishonest. Net very competent, apparently. Forgetting that it sometimes snows and gets cold in winter isn’t too clever.

Well as an old construction man I know you are always in the hands of the weather gods. Of course they could have waited until easter or even summer but that would not have been popular either. Heads you dont win, tails you lose.

This is one of the 6 delays in total.

[KILLER KNIGHT]

These dishonest morons…!

Not dishonest. Net very competent, apparently. Forgetting that it sometimes snows and gets cold in winter isn’t too clever.

On top of that, they couldn’t install the telecommunication cables and drainage on time. Last time it was a shortage of AMIs (fair enough) and the installation of fibre optic cables.

[KILLER KNIGHT]

‘during the daytime this spring.’ I believe this means after the clocks have changed from GMT to BST/DST.

[KeithW]

Dont tell me - pray to Jupiter who is the god of clouds, rain, thunder, and lightning

Do construction crews pave in the rain?
By Gary McHugh
Asphalt Pavement Solutions

There is a widespread misconception that asphalt pavement can only be installed on extremely hot, dry days. Although ideal conditions are precipitation-free days with air temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, asphalt can be applied under a range of conditions.

That said, it is never a good idea to start a project while rain is falling. If it begins to rain while work is underway, the job can proceed if the rainfall is not too hard and the surface is free from standing water. However, if the rain is too heavy, work should be suspended.

There are two primary problems with installing asphalt pavement in the rain. The first is that the rain will make the asphalt cool faster as it hits the top layer. It will also expedite the cooling rate if the foundation is wet. This can cause steam to form between the asphalt and the base, compromising the installation. The trapped steam will eventually condense into water, further undermining the integrity of the asphalt.

The second problem is that asphalt must be compacted properly to form a proper bond. It is more difficult to achieve sufficient compaction in the rain. Additional effort is needed, including monitoring temperatures to ensure that adequate density is achieved.

If work must be suspended because of rain, it is important that the conditions be evaluated before work resumes. Standing water, such as might be found in potholes, must be dried up before paving operations resume. If the rain has washed mud or dirt onto the surface, this will need to be removed as well. If the foundation was left unprotected, it may be necessary to allow it to dry for a while or recompact it.

Since 1983, Asphalt Pavement Solutions has been serving clients in the states of Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania from out office in South Jersey. We provide a full range of asphalt services from new asphalt paving and pothole repair to asphalt sealcoating and line striping. Our crews have the experience and training to handle jobs of any size and type. (7325).

[KeithW]

‘during the daytime this spring.’ I believe this means after the clocks have changed from GMT to BST/DST.

Spring in the UK officially starts on Mon, Mar 20, 2023 but builders spring has been known to be as late as the end of June

Being serious back in 1977 I was the only person on the Olefines VI project for 4 days who could even get to the site and that was only because I had a set of winter tyres. It took that long to clear the A19 between Norton and Wallsend where the depot was.

The UK was under a cold northerly to northeasterly airflow during the second week of January 1977 caused by a depression over Scandinavia and high pressure over Greenland. A deepening low pressure was moving into the southwest and the frontal systems met the colder air producing widespread snowfalls. In the south, the snowfalls were wet and turned to rain as the depression moved into central England although several cms of wet snow and slush did accumulate. Further north, there was drifting snow across the hills of northern England and Wales where depths of snow were approaching 20-25cm and the snow cover lasted for several days.

My boss lived just outside Butterknowle in Teesdale and it was a week before the village could be reached by road. The Army moved food in using tracked vehicles. Diamond Hill may not look much but add a foot or two of drifting snow and all bets are off.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.62524 ... 312!8i6656

If you really want to be bored I will tell you about walking to school in the winter of 1963.

[Ruperts Trooper]

Spring in the UK officially starts on Mon, Mar 20, 2023 but builders spring has been known to be as late as the end of June

Spring, and the other seasons, have various start-end dates - meteorological Spring is 1st March - 31st May - astronomical Spring is March 20/21/22 - June 20/21/22.

[KILLER KNIGHT]

‘during the daytime this spring.’ I believe this means after the clocks have changed from GMT to BST/DST.

Spring in the UK officially starts on Mon, Mar 20, 2023 but builders spring has been known to be as late as the end of June

Being serious back in 1977 I was the only person on the Olefines VI project for 4 days who could even get to the site and that was only because I had a set of winter tyres. It took that long to clear the A19 between Norton and Wallsend where the depot was.

The UK was under a cold northerly to northeasterly airflow during the second week of January 1977 caused by a depression over Scandinavia and high pressure over Greenland. A deepening low pressure was moving into the southwest and the frontal systems met the colder air producing widespread snowfalls. In the south, the snowfalls were wet and turned to rain as the depression moved into central England although several cms of wet snow and slush did accumulate. Further north, there was drifting snow across the hills of northern England and Wales where depths of snow were approaching 20-25cm and the snow cover lasted for several days.

My boss lived just outside Butterknowle in Teesdale and it was a week before the village could be reached by road. The Army moved food in using tracked vehicles. Diamond Hill may not look much but add a foot or two of drifting snow and all bets are off.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.62524 ... 312!8i6656

If you really want to be bored I will tell you about walking to school in the winter of 1963.

Spring starts or ends at the end of June?

[KeithW]

Spring starts or ends at the end of June?

Very possibly up here in the North East, I have seen snow falling on the A66 in April It didnt lay fortunately. Ruperts Trooper has already given the official answer.

The bottom line is climate is what you expect, weather is what you get. Consider these events in 1975

On 2 June 1975, snow an inch thick covered the pitch at Buxton in a match between Derbyshire and Lancashire, and snow stopped play at several other county cricket matches. Snowflakes even briefly fell on the Lord’s cricket ground in London.

The next summer in 1976 we got one of the hottest summers on record with record droughts.

[KILLER KNIGHT]

Spring starts or ends at the end of June?

Very possibly up here in the North East, I have seen snow falling on the A66 in April It didnt lay fortunately. Ruperts Trooper has already given the official answer.

The bottom line is climate is what you expect, weather is what you get. Consider these events in 1975

On 2 June 1975, snow an inch thick covered the pitch at Buxton in a match between Derbyshire and Lancashire, and snow stopped play at several other county cricket matches. Snowflakes even briefly fell on the Lord’s cricket ground in London.

The next summer in 1976 we got one of the hottest summers on record with record droughts.

I remember some years ago it snowed in like June. I believe it was somewhere in the late 2000s. I was very young.

[jnty]

These dishonest morons…!

Not dishonest. Net very competent, apparently. Forgetting that it sometimes snows and gets cold in winter isn’t too clever.

You plan for a certain number of lost days in winter and if that number happens to be higher than usual - as it presumably would have been in this unusually cold and snowy winter - then all your estimates end up wrong (and probably throw off your whole schedule.)

The bombproof alternative would be assuming that it will snow continuously from November - April and then going bankrupt when you lose every single tender going.

[M4Simon]

You plan for a certain number of lost days in winter and if that number happens to be higher than usual - as it presumably would have been in this unusually cold and snowy winter - then all your estimates end up wrong (and probably throw off your whole schedule.)

This.

A contractor makes a commercial decision as to how to manage all the risks on the project, based on a comprehensive risk assessment, and how the Contract allocates risk. Unfortunately, too many clients try to pin as many risks as possible onto the contractor as they think this will give them cost and programme certainty. If you do this, you will pay through the nose - and that's assuming you can find a contractor who is prepared to tender for the work. It is far better for the client to take some of the risk, particularly if it is an area where the contractor has little control over the risk or where the likelihood of it occurring is very low.

In terms of weather, I worked on a project many years ago building concrete airfield pavements. The plan was to use a concrete train for the top layer and that the train would not be on site between December and March as they were likely to lose too many days to the weather and the train would not be cost effective. In the event, the winter was mild, and not too wet, and we were able to lay a lot of the pavement 'by hand' - there were still concrete forms, with concrete being brought in by side-tipper lorries, but the concrete was compacted using separate items of equipment rather than a full concrete train. The job eventually finished well ahead of programme.

A few years later, I was working on the Resident Engineer's staff of a project which involved laying new asphalt carriageway. It so happened that the contractor was the same one I had worked for building airfield pavements. One night they proceeded to lay the hot rolled asphalt surface course (was wearing course in those days) through torrential rain on a reasonably steep gradient, with rivers of water pouring down on the binder course and cooling the new asphalt surface before the chippings could be fully rolled into the asphalt. I was very clear in my opinion of this - they were instructed by me to stop, which they refused to do. I will never forget the Contractor's Senior Engineer, who I knew well from the other job. telling me not to worry as the whole lot would come up in sheets in the morning.... and it did. There were enough chippings that could be swept from the new mat to lay the surface again. It all came out at the Contractor's expense.

Most contracts I've been involved in recently have been NEC Contracts (for the contractual geeks, the previous jobs I mentioned were ICE 5th Edition). The standard NEC contracts place much of the weather risk on the contractor, but in the event of a weather event occurring on average, less than once in ten years, when measured in accordance with the contract and compared with data from a nominated local weather station, then the event becomes a client risk and is a Compensation Event under the contract (i.e. they may be entitled to an Extension of Time and/or additional costs, dependent on the contract specifics and the impact the event had). As noted above, Clients often like to amend standard contracts to reallocate risk. This is one such place where clients like to push more risk onto the contractor.

Simon

[KeithW]

Most contracts I've been involved in recently have been NEC Contracts (for the contractual geeks, the previous jobs I mentioned were ICE 5th Edition). The standard NEC contracts place much of the weather risk on the contractor, but in the event of a weather event occurring on average, less than once in ten years, when measured in accordance with the contract and compared with data from a nominated local weather station, then the event becomes a client risk and is a Compensation Event under the contract (i.e. they may be entitled to an Extension of Time and/or additional costs, dependent on the contract specifics and the impact the event had). As noted above, Clients often like to amend standard contracts to reallocate risk. This is one such place where clients like to push more risk onto the contractor.

Simon

It was the same story on major industrial projects such as Refineries and Power Stations mind you that was not the reason Dungeness B was years behind schedule, the government of the day decided to order a start of building before the design was finished, we had to rip out and replace half the stuff that was installed when the Nuclear Installation Inspectorate rejected it.

[Big L]

You plan for a certain number of lost days in winter and if that number happens to be higher than usual - as it presumably would have been in this unusually cold and snowy winter - then all your estimates end up wrong (and probably throw off your whole schedule.)

How unusually cold and snowy has it been in Walsall? I’m barely 10 miles away and it’s hardly snowed here. Cold, yes, for a few days.

[KILLER KNIGHT]

You plan for a certain number of lost days in winter and if that number happens to be higher than usual - as it presumably would have been in this unusually cold and snowy winter - then all your estimates end up wrong (and probably throw off your whole schedule.)

How unusually cold and snowy has it been in Walsall? I’m barely 10 miles away and it’s hardly snowed here. Cold, yes, for a few days.

I live in Staffordshire so it couldn’t have snowed more than once or twice.

[KILLER KNIGHT]

I didn’t know there was any existing infrastructure. It thought it had all been replaced in 3 years time. You’d think wouldn't you?

[ReissOmari]

To anyone that didn't know, they'd think this project stalled 6 months ago, what's going on? Why haven't all the permanent signals been installed and turned on yet, it seriously looks like it could have been completed 6 months ago.

[chaseracer]

To anyone that didn't know, they'd think this project stalled 6 months ago...

I think it did.