A large stretch of motorway running along the south coast of England will be closed for more than 10 days over the Christmas period so an underpass can be slid into place.
The M27 will be shut between junctions nine and 11 from 8pm on Christmas Eve until 4am on 4 January.
During this time, a ready-made underpass weighing 8,500 tonnes will be installed underneath the carriageway, as part of a £100m project to upgrade junction 10 near Fareham, Hampshire.
The upgrade will allow for more traffic for the Welborne Garden Village development, which will provide up to 6,000 new homes, along with schools and community services.
As part of the works to create an “all-moves” junction, the pre-constructed concrete structure will be slid 65 metres into a trench cut into the motorway embankment.
The carriageway will then be reconstructed above the new underpass while the motorway is closed.
The structure is two and a half times heavier than HMS Victory, which the National Museum of the Royal Navy says is the oldest commissioned warship in the world.
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The M27 runs along the south coast between Cadnam and Cosham in Hampshire and connects Portsmouth and Southampton along the Solent.
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Lulu Bowerman, Hampshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “After months of meticulous planning, we are putting the final preparations in place for what will be a major and complex engineering operation.
“Once the M27 closes from 8pm on Christmas Eve, work will continue around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to complete the job safely and as quickly as possible.”
Ms Bowerman noted that the signed diversion route along the A27 will be very busy, so motorists are advised to plan ahead “and consider if you need to travel in this area at all”.
“The work has been planned at a time when traffic levels are lower, but we appreciate it will cause inconvenience, and we thank everyone for their understanding in advance as we deliver these vital improvements,” she added.
Andrew Jackson, National Highways programme manager, pointed out that these works “allow us to accelerate this important scheme and stimulate economic growth across the region”.
