4 September 2024: Our vegetation clearance works, such as hedge and verge cutting, on The Street were carried out week commencing 2 September as planned, with the assistance of an ecologist present on site to supervise the works.
We are pleased to confirm that the next phase of works associated will commence on Monday 16 September.
At present, we anticipate that these works will take around four weeks and are aiming for repairs to be completed by mid-October, although this may be subject to change due to external factors such as weather, ecology, or ground conditions.
We are aiming to reopen The Street safely following completion of these works, with formal diversion routes being inspected and repaired where required thereafter. Details of these works will be provided nearer the time.
29 August 2024 update: Our safety defect repair works along Priory Road, Burstall Road, Hadleigh Road and Whatfield Road, commenced on Thursday, 22 August, as planned. These involved reinstating verges, as well as carrying out a mixture of permanent and temporary road repairs.
These repairs have now been completed.
We have now received a final design for our repairs to The Street, Aldham, which is in the process of being reviewed.
Vegetation clearance works, such as hedge cutting on The Street have also been programmed. These works are scheduled to commence on Monday 2 September and should last for approximately a week, however, we will be guided by the advice of the ecologist present on site who will supervise the works, given the environmental concerns previously raised regarding wildlife.
We will be in a position to confirm our main works start date along with confirmation of the works duration as part of our weekly update next week.
15 August 2024 update: In addition to the recent update, Suffolk Highways is planning to carry out urgent vegetation clearance on Friday 16 August, at the junction of Priory Road and The Street Aldham. The work will take around 90 minutes between 10am and 3pm. During this time, traffic will be temporarily restricted at the junction, travelling in all directions, under a TO15* restriction. Access through works will be granted but road users should expect delays and plan their journeys accordingly. Operatives on site will assist with access.
This is to ensure that this junction is cleared before the pothole repairs start on 22 August.
Note: A TO15* is “Temporary Obstruction for up to 15mins” (TO15) which means when a vehicle arrives at the obstruction the work promoter will aim to provide access within 15mins.
13 August 2024 update: Last week, ecologists confirmed that the small areas of scrub land which needed to be cleared to support a revised retaining structure was currently clear of wildlife. Suffolk Highways therefore attended site with the ecologist and cleared this area from vegetation ahead of the installation of the retaining structure. Works were also undertaken in the field margin and road edge to locate the depth of the Anglian Water main which was required for the second phase of our works.
Design continues with the initial phase for a relocated piled retaining structure that can be constructed within the highway verge and installed from the road. As with any structural design/works, this will need relevant internal structural approval to ensure the design can support the loads and to facilitate the specialist contractors to install the end solution. Suffolk Highways has provisionally secured the specialist piling contractor for September.
In the meantime, we are planning further repairs to other local roads [Priory and Whatfield road] as requested by the local community. These works will commence from Thursday the 22nd August under a TO15 arrangement, further details will be communicated to the parish councils as well as being posted on the Suffolk Highways socials nearer to the start of the works. A TO15 is “Temporary Obstruction for up to 15mins” (TO15) which means when a vehicle arrives at the obstruction the work promoter will aim to provide access within 15mins.
As with all utility works we have a team of inspectors out on the network monitoring these periodically to ensure the utility undertakers are operating in accordance with the permit requirements.
Whatfield Road, Elmsett | 12 August to 14 August 2024 | Works Reference - Anglian Water BC411SA001WFQCLF9Z-03
Openreach (BT) are working on Whatfield Road, Elmsett to “Overlay – Lay approx m of Duct 54/56 in Footway / Verge to link existing BT Boxes to facilitate spine cabling works” from 12 Aug 24 to 14 Aug 24. BT should be utilising a “Temporary Obstruction for up to 15mins” (TO15) which means when a vehicle arrives at the obstruction the work promoter will aim to provide access within 15mins. This shouldn’t be a ‘full closure’, just a temporary obstruction while BT carry out their works under TO15.
The Street, Aldham | 13 August to 14 August 2024 | Works Reference - AD01310751366-05 - Anglian Water
These works were originally planned to commence 6 August to 8 August 2024 and Network Assurance were concerned that there may be implications of asking Anglian Water to reschedule this connection for after 29 November 2024, a meeting was held with Anglian Water on Tuesday 30 July 2024, to confirm the necessity of the works. It has been confirmed by Anglian Water that this connection for a single dwelling.
We have been able to work with Anglian Water to discuss the works and find alternative engineering solutions to facilitate this water connection, alongside Suffolk Highways ongoing closure in Aldham. Anglian Water did request for a full road closure of The Street, Aldham for 3 days as they require a full road crossing, however, by working together we have been able to find an alternative way of working which allows for their required water connection to be completed utilising temporary obstruction 15 minute delay boards (TO15). This traffic management will see short delays of up to 15 minutes at a time, however, Anglian Water will only complete half of the required road crossing at a time and utilise road plates to ensure access is maintained after the 15 minute delay has finished.
Anglian Water are hoping to be able to permanently reinstate their works within the same day, which may mean longer working hours to complete these works. However, this would mean these works could be completed in 1 working day only, as opposed to the requested 3 working days originally. Please note, 2 working days have been requested as a contingency, should same day reinstatement not be possible. Network Assurance fully appreciate that there will be some delays to the residents in close proximity whilst this connection is being undertaken, however, taking into consideration the welfare of the family that are now resulting in alternative living arrangements, we hope the local residents and community will be understanding of this delay.
Cosford Road, Aldham | 20 August 2024 to 21 August 2024 - Anglian Water
Whilst these roads are not diverting into each other, the close proximity of both closures will likely pose some questions/concerns. Anglian Water have confirmed that their customer cannot wait until December or later for their connection as the water connection is required for livestock (horses). Anglian Water have agreed to reduce their duration from 3 working days, to 2 working days to help minimise the disruption within the area. As with all road closures, we have asked for advanced warning signs (AWS) and letter drops to be undertaken at least 10 working days prior to works commencing on site.
Whatfield Road, Elmsett | 28 October 2024 to 1 November 2024 - Anglian water
Anglian Water are required to install a new water main for a small development outside property ‘Berberis’. Network Assurance have been working with Anglian Water to find suitable dates for these works as we are aware that when Anglian Water undertook works further west along this road on Elmsett Road, Whatfield, whilst the Suffolk Highways closure remained in place, this caused difficultly for the Hadleigh school bus to remain in service and unfortunately meant that the school buses could not serve Hadleigh High School whilst those works were ongoing. Anglian Water have agreed to reschedule their works for the October half term and these dates are currently being reviewed. Unfortunately, the developer is unable to wait until after November for the water connection to be installed, due to the need to get their sold houses occupied.
30 July 2024 update: As we move from bird nesting season into the autumn, there are other protected species which are governed by European legislation that come into season. Whilst a license can be applied for, this only provides conditioned permissions to remove hedging or habitat and does not provide a mechanism to move and relocate wildlife which may have already started to occupy the bank and hedgerow areas.
As we continue to work with ecologists and Suffolk Wildlife Trust to survey the site and protect species, we are also considering ways in which we can minimise any further delay to the overall works taking place.
In an attempt to reduce further delays, we are developing an alternative solution which could see the repair works start in September 2024.
This alternative solution looks to minimise impact on wildlife by confining a revised road retaining structure within the highway verge and not the scrubland area. The ambition is that this alternative will return The Street to two-way traffic. This approach does mean that further works will be required in future to complete an entire repair, although it is anticipated that these further works can be completed off the highway, minimising impact on traffic.
This alternative solution was not pursued from the outset as it didn’t provide a permanent solution to the issue and future works will increase the total costs meaning that other works across Suffolk would have been delayed as a result.
To enable us to push forward with the alternative solution, we will be on site this week with an ecologist carrying out activity associated with developing and designing this alternative solution; whilst preparing the site for any works that take place.
Suffolk Highways has provisionally secured a specialist piling contractor during September, so that we are able to get started as soon as we finalise our alternative solution.
As soon as we have more concrete timescales, we will update the local community.
Lastly, we will also be looking to undertake further repairs to nearby roads and verge overrun areas as this was a priority for local communities. We will be working to minimise the impact of these repairs on the local community and will provide a separate communication on the timing of these for the affected roads.
8 July 2024 update: Following the previous update, unfortunately, we have some regrettable news regarding the start date.
Further to a site visit by an Ecologist, it has been identified that it is highly likely there are nesting birds on the bank where works will be taking place. Whilst Suffolk Highways undertook vegetation removal to large areas of the site to mitigate against the risk of nesting birds, it was not possible to do this on the area of scrub in the unstable slip area of the bank failure on safety grounds. This is the area where birds are suspected to be nesting.
Unfortunately, by undertaking surveys for nesting birds any earlier would not have been accurate or avoided the current issues on site as birds can nest at any time over the season.
We have sought advice from our Natural and Historic Environment Team and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, and whilst it is unlikely that Natural England will grant a licence to disturb nesting birds at this location, we are in the process of making an application. Even if this is successful, this will still mean that we are not able to commence works on the 15 July as we would need factor in time to remove nests and re-mobilise the construction team.
We are planning on the more likely scenario that a licence will not be granted, which means that we are looking to re-mobilise for a start date at the end of nesting activity in September.
We understand this will be disappointing news for residents, however birds and other wildlife are protected, and we have a duty of care to ensure all works are carried out safely and in line with environmental law. It is against the law to disturb nesting birds without a licence.
Suffolk Highways is working with Suffolk Wildlife Trust and SCC natural and historic environment team to avoid further delays. Additional surveys have been arranged to ensure other seasonal wildlife activity that can become more active from September can be managed. It still remains our priority to ensure the highway is reopened at the earliest opportunity whilst working sensitively within the natural environment.
We are sorry for the frustrations that this update may bring; however, we must ensure we are following the environmental laws in place.
27 June 2024 update: At present, we plan to undertake preparatory works during the week commencing Monday 8 July. These include the excavation of a trial hole within the highway to confirm the location of a water main and the potential removal of a hedgerow to accelerate some elements of work in future.
We anticipate that the scheme will fully commence on Monday 15 July, and are currently aiming for the improvements to be completed by mid to late August.
Further updates will be provided as the works commence.
Thank you for your continued patience whilst we undertake these essential improvement works.
20 May 2024 update: Investigations have now concluded, and repair solutions have been proposed. To allow The Street in Aldham to be reopened, a retaining structure will be installed to support the brook and embankment. Suffolk Highways is now concluding the process of obtaining the necessary approvals and creating a work programme with the agreed solution that provides the best value for money for Suffolk taxpayers and ensures the road can be reopened as soon as it is safe to do so.
Whilst a specific start date for the work cannot yet be confirmed, we are working towards commencing repairs on-site in July, with an anticipated completion date of August 2024 to allow for construction works and contingency for these. Every effort will be made to open the road prior to this target completion date; however, this is dependent upon operational progress and weather conditions.
Further updates will be issued as soon as a start date has been confirmed.
Thank you for your continued patience during the closure.
28 March 2024 update: Investigations have now concluded, and repair solutions have been proposed. To allow The Street in Aldham to be reopened, a retaining structure will be installed to support the brook and embankment. The team will obtain the necessary approvals and create a work programme with the agreed solution.
Whilst a specific start date for the work cannot yet be confirmed we are working towards an on-site start in June with an expected 6-week construction programme. Therefore, we are anticipating that the repairs will be complete, and the road can be reopened by the end of July 2024. Please note that this is a target completion date and is dependent upon operational progress and weather conditions.
Further updates will be issued as soon as a start date has been confirmed.
