Synopsis

Want to hear the latest on Highways England's plans to revitalise ageing concrete roads? If yes, you will not want to miss out on this 1-hour webinar.

Concrete roads make up almost 400 miles (4%) of England’s motorway and major A-road network. Mostly found along the eastern side of the country, in the North East, Yorkshire, East Anglia and the South East, there are also some smaller stretches in other parts of England.

Built in the 1960s and 1970s, when The Beatles were at their peak and traffic volumes were half of what they are today, these concrete surfaces are in desperate need of being brought into the 21st century. Depending on the condition of the roads, some will be repaired to extend their life and others will be fully replaced. Resurfaced roads will be quieter, smoother, be easier to maintain and therefore safer.

The programme is part of Highways England’s nationwide drive to revitalise concrete roads in England. Up to £400M will be invested over the next five years to 2025 as part of the Government’s second Road Investment Strategy published last year, to maintain and renew the strategic road network.

Clara and Michael will discuss various upcoming concrete renewal schemes and how we plan to rollout innovative technologies for carbon, recycling, noise reduction on our concrete roads.

Discussion will be around the generational gap within the industry and how the programme will leave a legacy for road management, including postgraduate courses we have created, training videos and lower level qualification routes. The new K-portal for end to end surveying will also be launched to attendees.

This event will be important for clients and contractors to attend to hear directly from Highways England about their plans for concrete roads. Delegates will leave with a better understanding of Highway's England's developing technical and maintenance approach to a specialist part of the infrastructure of the SRN.

Who is the presentation aimed at?

Industry specialists - those with an interest in concrete roads and/or our legacy promise due to the industry recognized generational gap in experience.

All job roles at any level - apprentice through to senior management designers.

Clara Flynn, Project Manager – National Concrete Roads Programme, Highways England

Clara is a Project Manager at Highways England and has been with the organisation for nearly 4 years. She started off as an Assistant Project Manager within the Operations business and transformation programme working on several high-profile change projects including the implementation of a national model system to manage our asset information database.

Having recently been promoted and transferred into the Concrete Roads programme, Clara is now leading on the skills and learning framework to help mitigate the general gap in skills and experience forthcoming within the industry. She will also be proudly managing upcoming concrete renewal schemes and life extension works in the West Midlands, identifying new innovative methods for concrete management and rolling these out nationally.

Michael Ambrose, Technical Lead, Centre of Excellence, Concrete Roads Programme, Highways England

Michael is Technical Lead for the Centre of Excellence, for the Concrete Roads Programme in the Operations Directorate for Highways England. 

He has worked in Leisure Management, Teaching (Further Education), Emergency Medicine Training and Operationally, as a Swimming Coach, a Fast Water Rescue Swimmer, an Outdoor Recreation Specialist, an Author (technical writer), an Asset Maintenance Manager and an Entrepreneur.

For the last 11 years he has been involved directly with concrete and pavements more widely. He has been working with the United States Air Force and on maintaining airfields, roads, and other concrete related structures.

Michael moved to Highways England 3 years ago as a Principal Pavement Engineer and almost immediately started work on the conception of the Legacy Concrete Roads Programme. This is to replace our older pavements (40 years plus or over design load). He has helped develop a 25-year programme of which Highways England is currently starting on the first 5 years.