Vehicle crossover, Knuston

Projects

Vehicle crossover and tarmac drive, Knuston

We were approached by a regular customer of ours, who had been redeveloping a large property in the village of Knuston in Northamptonshire. The driveway had already been block-paved in the main. The entranceway was being made bigger with new walls and electric gates, and the customer wanted tarmac for this part. There was an existing crossover, in tarmac, but it was very tired and falling to bits, so it was decided to resurface this at the same time.

Location
Knuston, Northants
Client
Private customer
Value
£x,xxx
Sewer Connections - Building-Site-Scene - JW Clark

Objective

Our objective was to lay tarmac in within the new entranceway and between the new stone walls, but also to excavate the existing crossover and to relay with tarmac, all at the same time.  

About the project

Whilst our customer was having completing the remainder of the block paving within the site, and building the walls either side of the new crossover, we approached Highways regards resurfacing the existing crossover. We were told this would need a Section 171, as opposed to a Section 184, which is to create a new crossover from scratch. In deciding method of traffic management we had to consider that the footpath would be out of action for 2 days. As there was no footpath on the other side of the road, we didn’t have the option to simply close the footpath and send the pedestrians over to a footpath on the other side of the road. The pedestrians would have to go in the road, via a dedicated ‘pedestrian walkway’, and for this to be possible we would need 2-way traffic lights to close the lane nearest. This would also enable us to park works vehicles adjacent to the site.  

We set up the traffic lights at 8am on day 1. We proceeded to excavate the existing crossover to the required depth for type 1 MOT and for the crossover construction which in Northamptonshire is 100mm of 20mm-size base course, and 20mm of 6mm ‘top-coat’. The area to be laid in tarmac extended beyond the crossover at the front, between the new walls that had been build to the front of the property, and all the way to where the block paving had been laid in the site. The type 1 that had been laid and compacted by the customer was checked for levels and didn’t require any further work.

The spoil was removed from site by the end of day 1 and preparations made to tarmac the following day. On day 2 we arranged for base course to be delivered at 8am, and it arrived shortly after. The tarmac was delivered on a lorry with chutes to the rear, which we used to fill wheelbarrows. The base course was in and laid before 11am. The 6mm ‘top-coat’ was delivered around 1pm and this was in and compacted within an hour and a half.

The new crossover and tarmac laid to the rear of the crossover was cool to walk on within a couple of hours. The traffic lights were taken down ready for the heavier teatime traffic, but we kept traffic off the crossover until the following morning, when it was open and for the customer to use.

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: Less than 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 171 Licence: 1 week

Leadtime to use S171 Licence: 4 weeks

Time taken to do the work: 2 days

Total time: Just over 6 weeks

Do you need a vehicle crossover doing? Click here to get a quote. Click here to see more Vehicle Crossover case studies. 

New Vehicle Crossover, Kettering

Projects

New Vehicle Crossover, Kettering

Location
Kettering, Northants
Client
Astar Living
Value
Circa £7k
Sewer Connections - Building-Site-Scene - JW Clark

Objective

We were approached by a regular customer of ours, Astar Living, to install a new vehicle crossover on Windmill Avenue in Kettering. The customer had already approached North Northants County Council and had got permission for a new Vehicle Crossover.

About the project

On our initial site visit we noticed a manhole cover in the middle of where the vehicle crossover was to go, and upon further inspection we found this to be the property of City Fibre. The manhole cover had to be lowered as part of the vehicle crossover works, we also needed to know whether or not the manhole cover was suitable for vehicular traffic, as some of them are not.

We made contact with City Fibre, and unfortunately we were bounced from department to department, and each time we were told that ‘somebody would get back to us’. We had to do a lot of chasing, and the whole process was very frustrating, and it took over 5 weeks to get an agreement from them that they would come and lower the manhole cover.

They agreed to do the work at no extra cost to us or our customer, but it had to be done under our traffic management, and under our Section 184 licence.  

It only took us two weeks to get our Section 184 licence – which we need to ‘dig up the pavement’ and install a vehicle crossover. Our next step was to give notice to Highways and book ‘roadspace’. We have to give three weeks’ notice ordinarily for minor works such as this in Northamptonshire, but we also had to co-ordinate with City Fibre to make sure that they were able to come on the dates that we wanted to book roadspace for. Eventually a date was decided on and we applied to Highways for roadspace and were allocated our preferred dates.

The crossover was on Windmill Avenue in Kettering, a very busy road. We were unable to close the footpath and divert pedestrians onto the other side of the road, and so we had to put up a temporary pedestrian walkway in the road, so pedestrians could safely go around our works.

The excavation of the existing path, putting in new sub-base and new kerbs both at the road and at the boundary with the customer’s private property, took two days. City Fibre came the next day as promised, and the tarmac was laid for the new crossover on day 4.

 

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 184 Licence: 2 weeks

Time take to liaise with City Fibre: 5 weeks

Leadtime to use Licence: 3 weeks

Time taken to do the work: 4 days

Total time: 3 months

Want to know more about the ins and outs of vehicle crossovers? See here and click on the ‘Vehicle Crossovers’ tab for more information. If you want us to quote for a new vehicle crossover, click here, choose ‘Dropped Kerbs/Vehicle Crossovers’ in the drop-down box at the top and upload all the relevant information.

New Vehicle Crossover, Hardwick

Projects

New Vehicle Crossover, Hardwick, Case Study

Location
Hardwick, Cambridgeshire
Client
Private client
Value
Circa £7k
Sewer Connections - Building-Site-Scene - JW Clark

Objective

We were approached our customer in Hardwick, Cambs, for a sewer connection for a new build, which we completed. We were then asked to quote for a vehicle crossover, which the customer had permission to do as part of the planning application. 

About the project

The crossover was a bit involved as it was on a 40mph road, and it was too busy to close the footpath. We had to put up a pedestrian walkway in the road, to safely divert the pedestrians. We excavated the area, which was quite large for a crossover, and was adjacent to a ‘bellmouth’ of a small shopping precinct next door.

We also had a very heavy manhole cover on a surface water catchpit, which had to be lowered. To do this, we had to reduce the ‘corbled masonry’ and fit a modern ‘biscuit’ on top of the catchpit. We re-fitted the original manhole cover as there was nothing wrong with it.

We laid new edging kerbs at the boundary with the new property. At the road we laid new ‘radius’ kerbs to from the entrance onto the crossover. Stone was laid in layers and compacted with a 120mm roller. Tarmac was laid in two stages, with the base course going down in the morning and 6mm tarmac to finish, in the afternoon.

The traffic management was kept up overnight to give the material time to cool down completely. The next day we returned to lay topsoil and grass seed either side of the new crossover, and cleared the site.

Timeline

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 184 Licence: 3 weeks

Leadtime to use Licence: 3 weeks

Time taken to do the work: Less than 1 weeks

Total time: 2 months

 

Testimonial

Our customer was kind enough to leave us a 5-star review on Google:

“Superb company to deal with.
Excellent communication throughout, most helpful in meeting and exceeding time frames all backed up by a great works team who were polite, helpful and supportive whilst on site.
Thank you all 👍👍”

Click here to see more of our Google Reviews

Do you need a crossover doing? Click here and upload your measurements and pictures etc, and we’ll normally get a quote to you within a few days.

Click here to read our FAQs relating to dropped kerbs and vehicle crossovers.

Vehicle Crossover, Daventry

Vehicle Crossover Dropped Kerb

Projects

Vehicle Crossover, Daventry case study

We’ve known Tom for a few years now, so we were please to be asked to install a vehicle crossover for him in Daventry.

Location
Daventry, Northamptonshire
Client
Tom, homeowner
Value
Circa £3,800
Transport-Truck-02

About the project

When Tom approached us, he had already sought permission from Northants County Council for a vehicle crossover – commonly known as a ‘dropped kerb’. He already had a crossover but it was too small and was not central to his new block-paved driveway that he’d recently had done. It was great that he already had permission from Highways, but we still needed to do a Section 184 to Northants Highways, this is in effect a licence to ‘dig up the pavement’ and install a new crossover. Highways processed our licence within a few weeks and then agreed to allow us to use the licence 10 days later.

Our Solution

The work included to bring all manner of signs, barriers and cones to site and to fence off the work area. Highways agreed that footpath on ‘this’ side of the road could be closed, and that the pedestrians could be diverted to the footpath on the other side of the road, as is usual on a quiet road such as this. The existing footpath was excavated to the required depth to allow the correct amount of Type 1 MOT to be installed and compacted, in preparation for the tarmac. The kerbs at the front of the footpath had to be removed and replaced with new ‘6×5’ dropped kerbs laid in concrete. These kerbs were finished at either end with ‘dropper’ kerbs, this is where the dropped kerbs transition to full-height road kerbs either side of the new crossover. Luckily there were no manhole covers within the new crossover, only a small water meter, which had to be incorporated within the new tarmac.

Summary

All of the preparation work was done on Day 1, with the tarmac laid on day in two stages – the tarmac ‘base course’ being laid first thing, and the 6mm top coat thereafter. The crossover was allowed to cool for a few hours in the afternoon, signs and barriers were removed, and Tom had full use of his driveway that evening! He was only without vehicular access to his driveway for 2 days. As is usual with all such crossovers in the Highway, JW Clark are responsible for the crossover for 2 years during a ‘maintenance period’ agreed with Highways, after which Highways take back responsibility for it.

Customer review

“Thanks for the great job on the dropped kerb, it looks fantastic. The team were professional and excellent on communicating, also completely accurate with timings. A smooth and easy process from enquiry right through to the completion. JW Clark handled the paperwork/licenses, which was really helpful. 🙂”
Tom Stevens
Homeowner