Hampshire Highways Annual Review · Hampshire Highways is now two years old. The highways maintenance contract was awarded to Skanska in August 2017 on a seven year contract with

Hampshire Highways Annual ReviewAugust 2018 – July 2019

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Hampshire Annual Review 2017

Safe and well maintained roads are a priority for the County Council, affecting the quality of life of all those who live and work in Hampshire as well as our economic prosperity. With around 5,500 miles of road to look after, delivering a high quality and effective service will always have its challenges particularly in these times of growing demands and financial pressures on council services.

Foreword by Councillor Rob HumbyDeputy Leader and Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment Hampshire County Council

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Hampshire Annual Review 2018 - 2019

Against this backdrop, we are committed to mitigating the effects of climate change in Hampshire, and, joining other authorities across the country, the County Council has declared a ‘climate emergency’. The impact of climate change is the greatest threat to our quality of life in Hampshire, and we will be responding to the Government’s 2050 net zero carbon target by working with Skanska and our partners to embed environmental considerations into everything we do.

I’m very proud of the progress the highways service is making in Hampshire. Our collaborative approach is paying off and an excellent working relationship has been established between Hampshire County Council and Skanska, working together as one team, Hampshire Highways.

Skanska know that Hampshire is a place where we’re always looking forward and where they can trial innovations and best practice from their global business. We want to explore opportunities offered by new technology. Making sure we keep at the cutting edge of innovation is ever more important as we are to adapt to the impacts of climate change and severe weather.

I’m grateful to the Highways teams for the work they do, through all weathers, day and night. As one of the top performing highways services in the country – according to the annual independent NHT (National Highways and Transportation) survey of residents - Hampshire Highways’ approach of genuine collaboration and partnership working is certainly showing results.

Councillor Rob Humby

Welcome from Tim Lawton and Matthew RichesHampshire Highways is now two years old. The highways maintenance contract was awarded to Skanska in August 2017 on a seven year contract with an option to extend, subject to good performance

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Skanska took over Hampshire’s Highways maintenance contract in August 2017 on a seven-year contract, with an option to extend, subject to performance. Two years in, here’s what Matthew Riches, Business Director at Skanska and Tim Lawton, Assistant Director for Highways, Traffic and Engineering at Hampshire County Council, have to say about how the the contract is performing so far:

What had you hoped to have achieved by this stage of the contract?MR: We mobilised this contract really well and after the first year we were prepared to meet the challenges faced across the network. What we’ve been able to do this year, which I am proud about, is the movement from mobilisation to transitioning the service to a place where we can improve upon the delivery and realise the opportunities available to bring the service into the next generation of performance.

TL: One thing that’s really important for us to establish early on is that the way the contract is run works for both parties – for us at Hampshire that means the delivery of an effective service for Hampshire residents, and for Skanska, that it is efficient and essentially worth their while. I’m really pleased that we’ve got to this stage where it’s working for both of us, so early on in the life of contract.

What are you most proud of so far?MR: There have been some challenging moments on this contract such as the severe weather we’ve faced over the past two winter seasons, and

the intense heat leading to significant growth of vegetation. What I am proud of is how we have been able to deliver the service and responded to those challenges through the hard work of all the teams involved.

TL: I’m really proud of the collaborative approach we see every day in Hampshire Highways, and think that the fact that this has been established relatively early on in the contract is of genuine benefit to Hampshire residents.

What do you think the greatest challenges facing the Hampshire Highways contact will be over the next 12 months?TL: Funding pressures and service demands continue to be a challenge for us, as they are for councils up and down the country. Added to that, the County Council has committed to tackling the impact of climate change. This pressure does, however, bring into sharp relief the undeniable importance of continuing to look for ways we can change the service for the better, always looking for innovations to help us look after Hampshire’s roads as efficiently and effectively as we can.

MR: There is a significant skills gap within the construction industry and in Hampshire we do face the same potential issues. We have been working hard to create a succession plan and have been identifying the different skills we need for the future. Beyond this there has been widely reported volatility in the construction sector, especially with the collapse of Carillion, but Skanska have appropriate resilience which has reassured our customers and our shareholders.

How do you hope to see the contract develop over the next year?TL: I’m looking forward to exploring the opportunities that will come about through our established collaborative working. I’m confident we’re going to achieve even more service improvements and efficiencies without having to compromise on quality, which puts Hampshire in a really strong position.

MR: We have built a great relationship with Hampshire County Council and hope to continue building on that, working together to make the service more efficient and ready to perform for the residents of Hampshire.

Tim, what have you learned from Skanska’s other contracts that could benefit how the highways service is delivered in Hampshire?TL: Our good relationship with Skanska has meant we’ve been able to build up a good network with Skanska’s other clients, sharing good practice and good ideas. They’re very open about sharing good practice from elsewhere. Dragon Patchers are a good example of this. By being able to discuss the pros and cons of different aspects of maintenance techniques, we’ve been able to get the best out of Skanska’s suggestions, and consider what would best work in Hampshire.

Tim Lawton Matthew Riches

Matthew, and the other way round?MR: Hampshire County Council is very well respected across the UK for its approach to highways maintenance and a lot of that Ibelieve is down to how they approach working with contractors such as ourselves. They are open to and supportive of innovation and trials in areas otherwise untested, putting them at the forefront of the industry.

With the impact of a changing climate in sharp focus, how might the highways service need to adapt?TL: We are always looking at ways to reduce the impact of highways maintenance on the environment – from trialling new materials to assessing the miles travelled by operatives, machinery and materials to get the work done. It certainly is a challenge, because it’s important to look at the whole picture in order to fully understand the impact of using one material over another from start to finish, for example, but one to which we are committed so we can leave Hampshire resilient for future generations.

MR: Digital innovation is bringing new opportunity to support how we plan and manage our works. Through this we can look to improve our efficiency, reducing mileage and wasted materials.

If you had the chance to name a Dragon Patcher, what would you call it?MR: I did say Mrs Riches but just in case my wife reads this then a safer suggestion has to be ‘Etna’!

TL: Loki, which is the name of our family dog at home. He also likes filling holes, although they’re usually ones that he’s dug…..in my lawn!

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Hampshire Annual Review 2018 - 2019Hampshire Annual Review 2018 - 2019

Winter resilienceEvery winter, Hampshire Highways teams are on 24-hour standby, seven days a week, from 1 October through until the end of April to ensure that Hampshire keeps moving, whatever the weather

This winter, the coldest weather arrived at the beginning of the year and the winter fleet spread around 3,500 tonnes of salt across Hampshire’s roads in January alone.

At the beginning of February, areas of Basingstoke were hit with a perfect storm of heavy snow, accidents and lorries blocking the M3 and cancelled trains because of fallen trees, resulting in significant extra traffic through the town.

While some of Hampshire Highways’ salting lorries were also caught up in this traffic, they diverted onto other routes as soon as they could to salt as many roads as possible, and some of the winter fleet was redeployed from the south of the county.

Highways teams worked closely with the County Council’s Emergency Planning team, the emergency services and Highways England, setting up an operation centre in Hampshire Highways’ Trafalgar House base where the best use oftechnology and facilities could be made.

Arboriculture teams worked through the night, clearing trees from the roads

which had fallen due to the weight of heavy snow. Within 24 hours, all main roads throughout Hampshire were, once again, passable.

The winter fleet is made up of 43 dedicated state-of-the-art gritter vehicles which are fitted with the latest technology to ensure salting is accurate and efficient, and includes full GPS guidance and automatic salt delivery.

The gritters are supplemented with over 3,000 salt bins which are refilled every year, and teams spot treating areas not on the main gritting routes as required.

The teams use detailed Hampshire-specific weather forecasts in combination with real time information from electronic roadside weather stations to make decisions about the best time to salt the roads, where to salt and how much salt to use.

Forecast road surface and air temperatures, wind speed and direction, rainfall, and ice formation are all important factors in putting the winter fleet to work, which can sometimes be a round-the-clock operation.

Hampshire Highways salts the Priority One network first, which covers approximately one third of the county road network and carries the majority of Hampshire’s traffic – A roads, some B roads, major bus routes, roads to hospitals and other key emergency hubs, large schools and colleges, areas of high traffic concentration and public transport interchanges.

Covering over

150,000miles of highway

Equivalent of over

22 times around the moons circumference

Used approximately

12,500tonnes of salt

24hourstandby

43state-of-the-artgritter vehicles

12,500tonnes

A Stitch in Time Operation Resilience is Hampshire’s long-term maintenance strategy which takes an asset management approach to make sure the right treatment is used in the right place at the right time

Hampshire Annual Review 2017

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The programme sees an additional investment of £10 million each year using the most appropriate treatments to extend the life of road surfaces while at the same time getting the best value for money for Hampshire’s council taxpayers.

This asset management approach is a long term view, where the whole life costs of the ‘asset’ are considered to ensure resources available are put to the best use.

By using Asset Management principles to identify, prioritise and deliver highway maintenance works, funding is directed to where it will be most effective.Choosing the right maintenance option extends the


Hotly anticipated Dragons Hampshire Highways has invested in state-of-the-art patching technology from Skanska’s global business by buying two Dragon Patchers for use in Hampshire

life of the ‘highway asset’ in a cost-effective manner, and approximately 50 different surfacing options are currently available.

Part of this programme includes surface dressing - a highly effective treatment that extends the life of road surfaces, with around 400 sites across Hampshire covering over 100 miles of highway treated annually.

This type of treatment is designed to protect the road surface from water damage and maintain skid resistance, keeping the road in good conditionfor as long as possible and preventing potholes from forming.

This year, utilising the global strength of Skanska in highway innovation, two new Dragon Patchers have been added to the Hampshire Highways fleet. The Dragon Patcher is quick and efficient: it can repair a defect five times faster than traditional methods and is effective in all weathers as its ‘flame’ is able to heat and dry a frozen or wet road surface before repairing it.

The whole operation takes just a few minutes and the road is ready for traffic immediately afterwards.

It is nicknamed the ‘Dragon’ because it expels flames to de-ice and dry out the road surface. It is then cleaned with compressed air and sealed with a stone mix and hot bitumen emulsion. With the surface repair completed in as little as two minutes, the Patcher can move on to the next repair.

At the Spring Parish and Town Council Highways Workshop, parish council attendees were asked to take part in a dragon patching naming competition. Hampshire residents may see Elliot out and about – named by Sparsholt Parish Council – fixing potholes across the county.

Completing nearly

300Operation Resilience schemes

Highways surface dressed

500,000sqm of road

Hampshire Annual Review 2017Hampshire Annual Review 2018 - 2019

Looking to the futureBoth Skanska and Hampshire County Council are committed to reducing carbon emissions and looking after Hampshire’s environment – protecting the quality of life enjoyed by Hampshire residents for future generations

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One of the ways Hampshire Highways has explored new technology has been through a trial of plastic kerbing as an alternative to concrete to reduce carbon emissions. This initiative addresses two of the major challenges facing the County Council – finding ways that plastic can effectively be recycled and improving the efficiency of highway maintenance.

The trial involves small areas of recycled plastic kerbing in areas which see high number of heavy vehicles, to test the resilience of the material. The recycled plastic kerbing, which is durable but much lighter than the concrete equivalent, resultsin 40% less carbon during manufacture. It can be easily installed manually, reducing the need for mechanical handling equipment. The recycled plastic kerbing contains 88% recycled material and is cut with hand tools which does not create crystalline silica dust, as working with concrete would do. The kerb can then be recycled at the end of its life.

The recycled plastic kerbs are BBA/HAPAS approved meaning they are manufactured to the highest standards for the Hampshire network. With its light weight features, teams can lay four times faster than traditional methods. If this trial proves successful, further opportunities to reuse and recycle materials from highways works will be explored.

To help reduce carbon emissions across the county in day-to-day work, the County Council is continuing to invest in replacing its fleet with electric vehicles –

in fact, the Streetworks team is the first team at the County Council to have a fleet of electric vehicles. Its existing fleet of fossil fuel cars had come to end of their lease period and all have been replaced by electric vehicles.

Looking after the natural environment is fundamentally important to Hampshire’s future. This is why Hampshire Highways carefully manages roadside verges which are an important wildlife habitat, supporting fragments of flower-rich grassland. With around 10,000km of highways in Hampshire, this presents approximately 13,000 hectares of roadside verge habitat, equivalent to 3% of the county’s land area.

The County Council is responsible for the management of the verges on all roads in the county, except motorways, major trunk roads, and urban areas. Approximately 15 to 20 roadside verges of ecological importance (RVEI) are surveyed each year by the Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre as part of an annual survey programme to assess their value for biodiversity. Most RVEI verges are cut in April or late September which allows the plants to flower and seed.

The considerate management of trees plays an important role conserving biodiversity. Trees and woodland will normally only be felled for purposes of safety, access management, timber production, conservation and heritage preservation and Hampshire Highways will avoid any unnecessary removal, disfigurement or damage to trees with amenity, landscape or wildlife value.

5xlighter

88%Recycled material

40%less carbon

Care for lifeInnovation takes the lead on improving the safety of members of the public and highway operatives

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Hampshire Highways CharterGoing the Extra Mile delivers on improving the public perception of the work we do


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Hampshire Highways revealed a new public charter this spring: Going the Extra Mile. The Charter aims to add value at no extra cost, keeping communities informed of highways activity and ensuring a professional approach when out and about looking after Hampshire’s roads. This also includes making sure we keep the highway clear by taking back everything we take out with us, and responding to communities who help us identify any stray signs or cones that we may have missed.

One element of the charter is to deliver traffic management training for those involved in the Parish Lengthsman Scheme, providing the lengthsmen with essential learning to ensure they are carrying out works safely.

Skanska teams have been supporting local schools, by using their volunteering days, to refurbish the playground at Hook with Warsash CofE Primary School in Warsash, making it more suitable for

their students with learning disabilities; and helping to create a wild flower meadow at Wicor Primary School in Havant, encouraging their students to learn more about biodiversity and the importance of pollination. The @HantsHighways twitter feed has been instrumental in keeping Hampshire residents informed, providing regular updates on a range or maintenance activity such as winter maintenance, and the summer activity cycle. The number of followers on Twitter continues to increase 50% year on year.

A particularly successful initiative this year involved Hampshire Highways teams visiting primary schools across the county to share messages about road safety, and at the same time inviting students to name the gritters! Fantastic names were chosen, and Gritly Come Dancing, Spread Sheeran, The Grittest Showman, among others, were out about salting Hampshire’s roads during the winter.

Hampshire Highways is committed to an injury-free environment where all necessary steps and learning are made to ensure that everyone returns home safely at the end of a day’s work. Over the last year Hampshire Highways has put in additional measures, tools, and processes to meet this commitment.

One of the key areas of focus has been the danger of vehicle incursions into road closures and temporary traffic lights where our crews are working. This is one of the most dangerous situations in which operatives work, and also poses a very real danger to pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. Hampshire Highways has worked closely with the highways industry and the Police, in a trial of new tools including the use of remote controlled barrier systems to reduce the potential for harm.

Body cameras are being worn by operatives as a preventative tool, as well as an investigatory tool, for abusive and dangerous behaviour directed towards Hampshire Highways employees. There is still work to be done around behaviour change in members of the public so they can better understand why roads need to be closed.

This year has also seen the introduction of leading innovative manual handling tools, which has significantly reduced the amount of muscular-skeletal injuries. Working with a specialist supplier to create a new set of lifting tools to manoeuvre heavy items such as concrete kerbs, gully grating, and machinery, the teams have reduced the injury rate of highway operatives and sped up the delivery for these types of works.

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Inspiring the next generationHampshire Highways commits to the future of employment and skills development acrossthe county


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During the past year, Hampshire Highways has committed to offering employment and skills opportunities across all of its operations, ensuring development and progression of operatives and staff, as well as promoting the construction industry to students across the county.

Working closely with charities such as the Minstead Trust, which supports adults with learning disabilities, work experience and paid employment, opportunities have been identified for individuals keen to pursue a career in construction. This has enabled Hampshire Highways to provide additional support to those who need it, providing access into meaningful employment.

Hampshire Highways teams has engaged with over 4,000 students in over 20 schools across the county. Highways teams have been promoting career options within the construction industry at multiple career fairs, providing feedback on interview techniques by helping out with mock interviews at The Hamble School, opening avenues for work

experience within depots and with sustainability teams, and carrying out presentations on highway maintenance to college students who are looking at construction as a career path.

The Hook depot team took part in the national Open Doors event by inviting students from the Ashwood Academy in Basingstoke to see what operations are undertaken on a day to day basis.

Supporting students by broadening their future careers horizons has been a central part ofthe Hampshire Highways Employment and Skills Plan.

Hampshire Highways has supported 16 apprentices over this last year, with another 11 apprentices recruited and due to start in September. Investing in the future of the construction industry is recognised as a key area of focus, and both Skanska and Hampshire County Council are working closer together to inspire the next generation of employees.

Inspiring the next generation

Engaging with over

4,000Students

Visiting over

20Schools

Documents

Hampshire Highways Annual Review · Hampshire Highways is now two years old. The highways maintenance contract was awarded to Skanska in August 2017 on a seven year contract with