Roadways delivers early in Portsmouth: programme and interface lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Roadways has completed a key asphalt surfacing phase of the Southsea Coastal Scheme in Portsmouth two months ahead of programme, working as sole surfacing contractor to the VolkerStevin–Boskalis Westminster joint venture VSBW. The works form part of the multi-phase coastal defence upgrade along Southsea seafront, where new sea walls and raised promenades are being constructed to reduce flood risk to thousands of properties. Early delivery gives the JV more float for subsequent marine and public realm works, reducing interface risk between heavy coastal construction and highway traffic management.
Technical Brief
- Asphalt surfacing tied directly into new reinforced concrete sea defences to maintain drainage continuity.
- Roadways coordinated surfacing around tidal working windows, limiting exposure of partially completed coastal structures.
- Traffic management layouts were sequenced to segregate surfacing plant from pedestrian and promenade users.
- Night-time and off-peak surfacing shifts reduced live-lane working duration on the coastal route.
- Compaction and temperature control of asphalt were tightly monitored to avoid premature failures under saline spray conditions.
- Similar coastal defence schemes can reduce temporary works risk by front-loading surfacing in constrained seafront corridors.
Our Take
Roadways’ presence in both this Portsmouth/Southsea work and the recent National Highways scheme using cold bitumen emulsion suggests the contractor is likely to bring low‑carbon surfacing options into coastal defence and promenade environments where access and weather windows are constrained.
VolkerStevin’s role here aligns with its involvement in the Get It Right Initiative pilot, where our coverage notes substantial error‑cost avoidance; that background likely underpins tighter quality and safety controls on the Southsea Coastal Scheme phases delivered through VSBW.
Within our 835 Infrastructure stories, Portsmouth’s Southsea Coastal Scheme stands out as one of the more frequently referenced UK coastal defence programmes, signalling that performance and delivery practices here are likely to be treated as a benchmark for similar urban shoreline projects.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
QCDB-io
Comprehensive quality control database for manufacturing, tunnelling, and civil construction with UCS testing, PSD analysis, and grout mix design management.