Stonehenge - The bored tunnel option

[Euan]

Am I right in thinking that whenever the tunnel opens the old A303 will be completely closed to traffic? It would be very similar to the permanent closure of the A344 a few years ago, although I believe a very short fragment of the former A344 is still classified and as the C506 in Wiltshire. Perhaps if any segments of the old A303 are still publicly maintained after the tunnel opens, they might be given class III status.

[someone]

The bypassed sections of A303 will become byways and closed to motor vehicles, except obviously for the section through Winterbourne Stoke.

The A360 will be diverted slightly to the west through a pair of dumbbells to give GSJ access to the A303. A link will be also made from here onto that section of the A303 for the village and access to the B3083. To the west of the village the road will be closed off where there is currently an eastbound lay-by.

The section of current A303 between the two parts of the B3083 would obviously need to be reclassified as part of that road. But maybe they will make the rest of it a spur to the Longbarrow junction?

[andrewwoods]

The bypassed sections of A303 will become restricted byways and closed to motor vehicles, except obviously for the section through Winterbourne Stoke.

The A360 will be diverted slightly to the west through a pair of dumbbells to give GSJ access to the A303. A link will be also made from here onto that section of the A303 for the village and access to the B3083. To the west of the village the road will be closed off where there is currently an eastbound lay-by.

The section of current A303 between the two parts of the B3083 would obviously need to be reclassified as part of that road. But maybe they will make the rest of it a spur to the Longbarrow junction?

ftfy

[Jim606]

As expected, the Infrastructure Planning Inspectorate accepted the Stonehenge Tunnel scheme (on 16.11.2018) to progress onto the formal examination stage. As mentioned earlier, this should now take a year or so, before we get the final Secretary of State decision in early 2020. Construction is then possibly planned to start in 2021

[roadtester]

Uh oh - HE appears to have done some significant archaeological damage in the course of early preparatory work.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-w ... e-46465258

Probably the worst thing that could have happened from the point of view of avoiding Swampy-style protests.

[Berk]

It’s rather like breaking eggs. In an area (quite literally) stuffed with archaeological remains, you’re bound to upset something.

What about people just walking about, or camping near the surface??

[jgharston]

Uh oh - HE appears to have done some significant archaeological damage in the course of early preparatory work. ...

The way it was being reported it seems that the natural response would be: ok then, we'll cancel the tunnel.

It's like when people compain about police using non-lethal weapons. Ok then, we'll just use lethal weapons then.

[Norfolktolancashire]

Did Highways England have to gain permission to drill this borehole?

I'm guessing it was covered in the usual planning notices advertised as in any large construction scheme such as this.

Still, looks like it could be used later as a fracking well. I'm just waiting for the earth to move under my house up here in Lancs.

[Herned]

Uh oh - HE appears to have done some significant archaeological damage in the course of early preparatory work.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-w ... e-46465258

Probably the worst thing that could have happened from the point of view of avoiding Swampy-style protests.

This seems a strange story, surely HE would have an archaeologist check every part of the plan for this sort of work? So either the hole was drilled in the wrong place, or the hole is not quite as big a deal as made out. Crying wolf perhaps?

[M5Lenzar]

They've had long enough to discover everything that 'might' be found in that area.

[Ruperts Trooper]

They've had long enough to discover everything that 'might' be found in that area.

I think the issue is that HE have drilled straight through a known site.

[Euan]

Perhaps the site that was drilled through was not previously thought to have been of such archaeological importance. Surely HE would have found out earlier on if their plans to drill somewhere would have come to pass depending on whether or not it was an already known site.

[darkcape]

You don't usually need planning permission to drill boreholes if they don't exceed a certain depth (I can't remember the figure).

In the article the HE are saying they did notify the archaeologist, and they say the HE didn't.

It sounds like a communication mix-up. Archaeologist may have interpreted the location/map wrong, says it's ok, then HE turn up with drilling rig and suddenly the archaeologists are going mad and running to the media as it's not what they expected.

A borehole for water monitoring is very small, around 250-300mm usually in diameter, no different to someone installing a Fence post or telegraph pole. And if it's only for monitoring, the water table should be unchanged.

[KeithW]

Uh oh - HE appears to have done some significant archaeological damage in the course of early preparatory work.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-w ... e-46465258

Probably the worst thing that could have happened from the point of view of avoiding Swampy-style protests.

I doubt even Swampy would lose much sleep over a 8" pipe inserted in the ground to monitor water levels at the request of the archaeologist who is now complaining about it ! Note the site concerned is a mile and a half from the monument and predates it by thousands of years.

At the end of the day if you dig a hole just about anywhere on Salisbury plain you will find something, if you are unlucky it will be an unexploded artillery round. Now I am a history buff and have taken part in digs as unpaid unskilled muck shifter but the 'archaeology' here seems to consist of the bones and hoofprints of prehistoric cattle at what seems to have been a prehistoric barbecue pit. As the article states it has already been excavated and recorded. The site can hardly be classed undisturbed since the stone age, it is just a few yards from the A303 , the whole area was landscaped in the 18th century and before that it was on a working farm owned by Amesbury Abbey. It has now been partially excavated in 2010, 2014 and 2016 which is by the way a destructive process !

The kicker of course is that the only reason the good prof is able to do this excavation is that Highways England (you and me in fact) are paying for it. The first excavations of this 'important site' only took place in 2005. Prior to that it was known as Vespasians Camp as they thought it was a Roman Army marching camp ! In fact the OS Map shows it as a 'fort'

To give an impression of how much extrapolation is being carried out on very scanty evidence let me relate the story of the dogs tooth.

In one of the excavations they found a single dog tooth. Instead of drawing the obvious conclusion of 'dog gnaws bone and loses tooth' here is the saga they constructed from this single canine molar.

Such dates lie right on the cusp of the early Neolithic, and from this transitional period we have a number of illuminating finds, including a dog’s tooth that indicates some of those present at Blick Mead in the late 5th millennium BC had undertaken long journeys to visit the site (CA 321). The tooth was analysed by Bryony Rogers of Durham University, who found that it had belonged to a large species of dog, probably similar in build to a modern Alsatian, and perhaps used for hunting. Strikingly, Bryony’s analysis of oxygen isotopes preserved within the tooth enamel revealed that the dog had grown up far from Salisbury Plain, perhaps in eastern or northern England, or, latest analysis suggests, possibly as far north as Scotland. Meanwhile, carbon and nitrogen isotopes tell us that the dog had enjoyed a diet very similar to what we know humans were eating at Blick Mead – aurochs, deer, wild pig, and fish – which suggests that the living animal had travelled with its owner to the spring rather than the tooth being carried, perhaps as a talisman, and lost or deposited there.

So far, no human remains have been found at Blick Mead, but as dogs are taken as a proxy for people, we have tangible evidence of a long journey to the Stonehenge area. Such undertakings by both people and animals are well attested in the 3rd millennium BC, when Stonehenge was in its heyday, but this small tooth, like many of the finds from Blick Mead, suggests that the area was regarded as in some way special long before the formal Neolithic ritual landscape was established. The overall sense is of people from elsewhere meeting locals at an important hub, where they would hunt, feast, and exchange ideas, objects, and maybe even genes.

So from a single tooth a whole saga has been imagined that mass gatherings of humans were taking place which strangely left no other evidence, but even if true all it would show was that it was a party spot. No that surprising when you recall this was at a time before farming was an established way of life when our ancestors were semi nomadic following the herds of wild deer and cattle as they migrated rather as the Lapp's do today. It is equally possible of course it was just the rubbish dump for the associated hill fort as the layers of waste on the site were described as being metres deep.

My Sabristic theory is that it was the first A303 Service Area

[KeithW]

Uh oh - HE appears to have done some significant archaeological damage in the course of early preparatory work.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-w ... e-46465258

Probably the worst thing that could have happened from the point of view of avoiding Swampy-style protests.

This seems a strange story, surely HE would have an archaeologist check every part of the plan for this sort of work? So either the hole was drilled in the wrong place, or the hole is not quite as big a deal as made out. Crying wolf perhaps?

They did - he is the one who said a bore hole was needed to monitor water levels and is now complaining about it having been done.

[mikehindsonevans]

Uh oh - HE appears to have done some significant archaeological damage in the course of early preparatory work.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-w ... e-46465258

Probably the worst thing that could have happened from the point of view of avoiding Swampy-style protests.

This seems a strange story, surely HE would have an archaeologist check every part of the plan for this sort of work? So either the hole was drilled in the wrong place, or the hole is not quite as big a deal as made out. Crying wolf perhaps?

They did - he is the one who said a bore hole was needed to monitor water levels and is now complaining about it having been done.

Just remind me: how much is this costing and which decade is earmarked for opening?

[A303Chris]

I got the following email below from the HE, informing me that the formal planning process through the Planning Inspectorate will commence next year. Email as follows

I am writing to update you about how Highways England’s proposals for improving the A303 past Stonehenge are progressing.

First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to participate in our consultations earlier this year. Your feedback helped shape the proposals we submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in our application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to build the scheme.

Following the Inspectorate’s acceptance of our application on 16 November, I am pleased to let you know that the formal planning process is now in progress, with the Inspectorate having opened the window for people to register as interested parties. This can be done via the Planning Inspectorate’s website until 11 January 2019.

Our DCO application and accompanying documents are available on the Inspectorate’s website and paper copies can be viewed at Amesbury and Salisbury libraries until 11 January 2019.

Following the end of the registration period, the Inspectorate will make arrangements to start the public examination of the scheme proposals which will take place over a period of up to 6 months. The Secretary of State’s decision will then follow six months later, in the first half of 2020.

This is an important step towards improving this vital route to the South West. The scheme will remove congestion, reunite the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and address rat running in local villages.

We have produced a booklet summarising our proposals and explaining the DCO process which can be found on our website. If you would like to be kept informed about progress in the future, please visit our website and subscribe for updates.

[Glom]

So that's good?

I formally visited Stonehenge last weekend first time. Bought tickets and everything.

I can say that the road is actually quite loud so I'm starting to see what they're on about.

[Jim606]

Highways England have produced an updated booklet as part of the current planning application. One interesting note is they intend to open the Countess flyover and Winterbourne Stoke bypass before the tunnel;

http://assets.highwaysengland.co.uk/roa ... cation.pdf

Keeping people moving during construction. We expect the main construction works to start in 2021 and continue for approximately five years until 2026. We will work closely with Wiltshire Council as the local highway authority to agree traffi c management plans that limit congestion on the local roads network and on the A303 during this period. This includes building a haul road within the works site boundaries to keep construction traffic separate from public roads as much as possible. Traffic flows on the A303 will be maintained throughout the duration of the works, except for very occasional overnight closures to facilitate tie-ins between the new and existing road. There may also be closures for safety reasons during certain construction operations, such as off-loading large items of plant and equipment.

For materials brought to site, delivery times will avoid peak periods and access routes will be confined to main roads. Our plans will keep traffic on the A303 moving during construction.

Even though construction of the tunnel may take up to 5 years, we will aim to complete and open the Winterbourne Stoke bypass and Countess flyover as soon as efficiently possible, to bring benefits to local communities at the earliest opportunity.

[multiraider2]

I see the "Stonehenge Alliance" are mounting a petition against the tunnel. Their headline on Twitter: "Sign the petition now. You have just under three hours to save Stonehenge from the bulldozers".