OVERVIEW
In 2007, an Amey consortium was awarded the 30-year, £250m DBFO Package 2 Contract by the Department for Infrastructure. It was the largest ever highways scheme to be awarded in Northern Ireland - to improve the road links between Belfast, Dublin and Ballygawley.
Amey Roads NI was established to manage and deliver the contract. Major highways construction works continued for four years until 2011, building 40km of new dual carriageway and four motorway junctions, upgrading central reserve safety barriers and delivering considerable improvements to the single carriageway roads.
APPROACH
We’re now in the ‘operate’ phase - until 2037 - maintaining around 125km of Northern Ireland’s strategic road network. Our Consulting teams act as the Lifecycle Management Services Provider, managing and advising the financial, programming and technical aspects of the contract, including asset management.
Transport Infrastructure, as the Operations and Maintenance Contractor, are responsible for all carriageway and asset inspections and repairs, emergency response, winter maintenance, landscaping and street lighting.
BENEFITS
- Consulting provide full design services to the client and Transport Infrastructure. We have a robust review procedure in place which minimises technical risk to Amey and our client, where we submit design proposals for approval before construction works commence on site. Technical advisors review the project every six months to ensure compliance to any agreed models.
- Our GIS and BIM databases allow us to better plan works to optimise traffic management, maximise lane availability and reduce disruption to the travelling public. We have developed a new Routine Maintenance Management System (RMMS) which incorporates Mobile Mapping Data to create a digital twin of the network and helps us advise optimum maintenance regimes.
- Structural health monitoring has been commissioned on the concrete motorway overbridge structures to facilitate informed design decisions. Our design team installed new bridge number plates, which enable our operational team to scan and retrieve live bridge information such as inventory, inspection reports, bridge condition ratings and maintenance history. This minimises risk to either party of incorrect works taking place.