QMS | The South Devon Link Road

Matt Lambert Posted On January 7, 2016

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The newly constructed South Devon Link Road is a 5.5km dual carriageway built to bypass the existing A380 between Newton Abbot and Torbay to ease congestion through the village of Kingskerswell and to improve the connection of Torbay into the Highway Infrastructure, paving the way for an improved local economy.

First proposed over 50 years ago, the project was granted full approval in May 2012 with work beginning in the autumn of that year.
Part of the project requirement was to use as many local contractors and suppliers as possible and approximately 50% of the workforce employed to construct the road were from the surrounding areas.
Quality Marking Services Limited (QMS) was engaged by the principal contractor, GallifordTry, in August 2014 to install the line marking, road studs and high friction surfacing to the bypass as well as £25,000 of temporary works required throughout the project to enable the fluid movement of traffic around the construction site.

As a prestigious local road marking and specialist surfacing company, QMS met the criteria for the £340,000 contract and with a brand new BBA HAPAS Type 1 High Friction Surfacing Treatment, QMS HyperGrip™ recently launched to the market, QMS were able to deliver a combined road marking and anti-skid solution, further enhancing the service offering to the project. QMS began lining work on the Link Road in February 2015 with the QMS HyperGrip™ installations from September. A combination of day and night work was programmed to fit in with planned closures and to meet the demands of the client.

Throughout the duration of the contract temporary road markings were installed to specified sites to reduce disruption to the flow of traffic on diversion routes and to ensure it was
managed effectively.

Over the following months, QMS installed over 3,000 Road Studs, 8,000 metres of Ribline and centre lane line along the length of the bypass including ancillary markings, junctions, arrows and letters. The contract required the installation of 8,700m² of QMS HyperGrip™ High Friction Surfacing across 3 sites along the link road: Edginswell Lane Junction, Penn Inn Flyover and the Riviera Way which used a combined total of 70,000 tonnes of aggregate and over 25,000 tonnes of resin.

Despite poor weather conditions hindering progress throughout November and December, QMS Crews worked tirelessly to complete the installations in time for the opening of the Road on Tuesday 15th December.

“Programming the works for the South Devon Link Road proved challenging from a logistical standpoint. The flurry of activity during the final phase of the link road’s construction meant that we had to collaborate closely with other contractors working on the bypass to ensure that we were all able to complete our respective works in time for the opening.

Despite the difficulties with logistics and unpredictable weather impeding progress, the challenges fuelled a considerate working environment across all workers onsite and it was a pleasure to work alongside GallifordTry and other contractors on the scheme.

The entire QMS team are incredibly proud to have played a part in the construction of such a high profile local
project and it’s fantastic to see the road open and delivering on its pledge to alleviate congestion through
Kingskerswell.”

Andy Smith, QMS Contracts Supervisor.