Projects

Flexibility key to success

Terminus Road is the principal thoroughfare between Eastbourne town centre and the East Sussex resort’s seafront. Amenity to the road’s many restaurants and shops is being enhanced, and the route between town and beach revitalised, by a £3 million pedestrianisation project.

As well as being free of traffic the new ambience will be created with the addition of new catenary lighting, street furniture and granite paving. Wi-Fi connectivity will also be made available.

The project to achieve this was awarded to Octavius’ self-delivery business, Octavius Regional Civil Engineering, by Balfour Beatty Living Places following a competitive tender. The winning programme was deemed the most workable, most likely to achieve the as sold outcome.

Creative sequencing

Eastbourne is a summer town. Terminus Road’s traders rely on summer footfall to carry them through quieter winter months. In recognition of this the original programme was for winter delivery. Circumstances, however, meant this was not possible and a spring start necessary.

This revised programme envisaged works throughout the summer; but in response to the needs of the street’s businesses Octavius flexed, proposing creative resequencing which eliminated disruption in the main thoroughfare during July and August, but allowed work to progress in clusters of smaller, less critical locations.

Overcoming weakness

Some of the project’s other challenges lay below ground. Having to work around undocumented buried services was a common occurrence. Of greater significance were undocumented basements beneath the street surfaces being replaced. A problem exacerbated by the structures’ construction and condition. Surveys undertaken by the site team revealed many basements were unable to bear the necessary loads.

To overcome the basement challenge the sub-base specification was changed from tarmac, the laying of which required vibration, to slow-pour concrete; lessening the stress on the fragile basement structures – another example of flexible delivery overcoming challenges.

Stakeholders centre stage

Keeping the needs of businesses, and other stakeholders, central to delivery has been among the project’s successes, and goes well beyond sequencing to avoid summer disruption. The choice of Heras fencing has ensured shopfronts remain visible as work progresses, and access has been maintained. The team has provided volunteers at the local hospital, and for litterpicks.

Local coffee shops have been hired to host regular meetings, putting money back into the area, and providing a forum for dialogue between the project team and the community in which they are working. The project’s public liaison officer provides another focal point for sharing information between those on the project and those affected by it. Feedback remains broadly positive.

The pedestrianisation of Terminus Road is Octavius Regional Civil Engineering’s biggest win to-date with Balfour Beatty Living Places in East Sussex. This follows on from the first major project, Albert Road junction enhancements in Eastbourne, and builds upon the successful delivery of a host of smaller projects for the client in that county.