At 4pm on Monday 21st November, Transport for London’s Works Co-ordination and Permitting team (WCaP) contacted Ringway Jacobs Roadspace Team regarding a gas leak identified by National Grid Gas (NGG). It became apparent that additional lane closures were required on the A12 Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach (SB) in order to complete repairs to the leak. These were scheduled for Wednesday 23rd November.

In order to take full advantage of the closures, a detailed inspection of the network was immediately carried out within the planned roadspace occupation area. Multiple repairs across different activities were identified and recorded including carriageway surfacing, manhole repairs and chevron cleaning. A permit was raised for the works and out of hours approval was agreed.

In the planning stages Ringway Jacobs’ roadspace planner, Toyah Horsford, co-ordinated all of the above and liaised with WCaP, NGG, Highways Operation Team, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the London Streests Traffic Control Centre (LSTCC), as well as Ringway Jacobs’ maintenance teams to agree works and ensure resource.

During works, the Maintenance Coordinator, Lee Potter, liaised with National Grid to ensure the traffic management was safe for oncoming traffic as well as our operatives on the ground.

WCaP Area Manager, Andrew Sherry, felt the closure was a huge success. He said “this demonstrates what can be achieved by operating a proactive approach and commitment to deliver collaborative works for both planned and unplanned situations. This has proved to be a positive outcome for travelling public and a good example of how to smooth traffic flow.”

This is the latest in a long list of collaborative works that are being carried out by Ringway Jacobs, demonstrating our commitment to minimising disruption and meeting the Mayor’s Roadworks Pledge. It is also highly rewarding to see that we are able to respond to TfL requests at such short notice on a sensitive area of the network and that the communication lines and confidence in delivery between TfL and Ringway Jacobs is strong at all levels.