A gang at the road, no approval to dig
Your site needs a foul sewer connection in the main road and a new bellmouth for the site access. The application to the highway authority went in, but the dates approved were not the ones the gang was planned for. Traffic lights were booked for the original week. On Monday the gang arrives, the traffic management firm arrives, and the approval is for next month.
Nobody made a mistake on their own. The application, the approval, the traffic management and the gang plan were each handled by a different person, and nobody joined them up.
Why highway works go wrong
Work in the public highway has its own process with the highway authority, often through their permit or noticing system, with required notice periods, conditions and approved dates. Your part of it is handled alongside everything else by a contracts manager or an office administrator. Traffic management is booked separately. Reinstatement records are needed afterwards and are often forgotten.
- Applications are made by one person and approvals arrive by email.
- Approved dates differ from requested dates and the gang plan is not updated.
- Traffic management bookings are separate from the approval.
- Conditions attached to approvals are not passed to the gang.
- Reinstatement records and photos are not kept together.
What mismatched highway works cost
Gangs and traffic management paid for days they cannot work. Connections delayed, holding up drainage commissioning or site access. Possible penalties or disputes with the highway authority where conditions or dates were not followed, which is a matter your advisers will want to handle. And reinstatement problems later that you cannot answer because the records are scattered.
The highway works tracker we build
- Every job in the public highway is listed: connections, access works, service trenches, with location and the highway authority.
- For each, the application, the required notice period, the requested and approved dates and any conditions are recorded. Approval emails are read and filed against the job.
- The gang plan and the traffic management booking are linked to the approved dates. If the approval changes, both are flagged.
- Conditions, such as working hours or traffic arrangements, are passed to the ganger on a phone with the job.
- On the day, the gang records start and finish, and photos of the site set-up.
- Reinstatement is recorded with photos, layers and dates, and any interim or permanent reinstatement due later is tracked.
- Upcoming jobs whose notice period is close, or approvals not yet received, are shown to your contracts manager each week.
| Job | Approval | Traffic management | Gang |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foul connection, main road | Approved, later dates | Rebooked to match | Replanned |
| Site access bellmouth | Awaiting approval | Provisional | On hold |
| Water main crossing | Approved | Booked | Planned |
What notices, permits and conditions apply is set by the highway authority and your advisers. We track them; we do not apply on your behalf unless you want that built in, and even then a person submits.
Highway works that happen on the day planned
Gangs and traffic management are only booked for approved dates. Conditions reach the gang. Approval changes are caught on the day they arrive. Reinstatement records are complete and easy to find if the highway authority asks. And your contracts manager sees upcoming highway work early enough to apply in good time.
Do your highway connections look like this?
- Gangs have turned up to highway work without approval for that date.
- Traffic management is booked separately from approvals.
- Conditions on approvals do not reach the gang.
- Reinstatement records are hard to find.
- Applications go in late because nobody saw the work coming.