January 15, 2019 11.29 am This story is over 62 months old

Lincoln Eastern Bypass faces further delays as subcontractor collapses

Bypass blues
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Lincoln’s Eastern Bypass faces further delays after one of its subcontractors has collapsed into administration, but Lincolnshire County Council says it will try to minimise disruption to ongoing works.

It comes as Hawk Plant Ltd, an independent plant hire company, made the decision to appoint administrators on Monday.

The firm had been carrying out earth works on the Eastern Bypass, a project which aims to minimise congestion across the city.

The single carriageway scheme has already been delayed by Carillion’s collapse from December 2019 until May 2020 and is expected to be £21 million over budget, totalling £120 million (the original cost estimate for a dual carriageway road).

Hawk Plant, which is based in Shropshire and has more than 40 years experience, blamed “historical problematic contracts” and delays in “commencement of anticipated projects”, reported The Construction Index website.

Following the appointment of administrators, 83 of the firm’s 420 employees were made redundant.

Photo: Lincolnshire County Council/ The Drone Man

The news comes as Lincolnshire County Council appointed Galliford Try in January 2018 as the replacement contractor for Carillion to finish work on the project.

Galliford was brought in to oversee the “milestone” areas of the project, including the four new roundabouts, two bridges and 7.5km stretch of new road.

County councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “Despite the announcement about the bypass earthworks subcontractor, Hawk, going into administration, other on-site works will continue on as normal today and for the foreseeable future.

“We are monitoring this situation closely and will be working closely with Galliford Try to ensure as little disruption as possible is caused to the project.”

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