Pre-construction works commencing for East Anglia ONE

Iberdrola Engineering & Construction has been appointed to undertake engineering design and is the Principle Contractor for the pre-construction and construction works.

From January, work will start right the way along the 37km onshore cable route, from Bawdsey to Bramford. These pre-construction works are to prepare the ground and the road networks for the start of construction, planned for Spring 2017. 

The activity commencing in January includes a number of highways improvements, such as road-widening and the creation of extra passing places, to enable the flow of traffic along roads which will be used during construction. There will be temporary traffic management measures in place during these works and we would request that members of the public remain patient and follow the procedures set out. 

The major highways works being undertaken from January include the creation of a new mini-roundabout at Top Street, Martlesham, to provide safe access into the construction site, and the creation of a left-hand filter lane on Paper Mill Lane to enable the flow of traffic near another of our construction sites. We will also be undertaking improvements to the T-junction from Bullen Lane to Loraine Way, Bramford, to increase visibility and safety. Minor road improvements will be conducted at a number of locations along the route and these will be marked with advance warning signs. 

ScottishPower Renewables and Iberdrola Engineering Construction are working closely with Suffolk County Council and the Highways Agency to ensure that these works are carried out safely and efficiently. There is a Code of Construction Practice and this will be strictly adhered to.

ScottishPower Renewables is liaising with a wide variety of stakeholders regarding these works, such as town and parish councils, landowners, and utility companies, as well as the general public through public information events. During early 2017 ScottishPower Renewables will also be undertaking a number of further surveys, including ecological mitigation and further archaeological investigations. 

The chosen route was evaluated to minimise the impact on any historic or archaeological sites, and a mitigation scheme has been developed.  This activity will take place from January 2017 for approximately four months and will ensure that those sites with the greatest archaeological potential are investigated in advance of construction taking place and those with lesser potential will be recorded during the construction phase.

Archaeological works to date have involved investigation trenching along the route. Further works will be more extensive but in localised areas identified through the analysis of the results as having a higher potential of containing archaeological heritage prior to the main construction works.

Due to the nature of the land, mainly in the form of ploughed fields, the underlying archaeology is already likely to have been disturbed. Therefore, there will be little to see in the excavations to the non-expert and the most interesting phase is likely to be later when the results have been analysed.  

To ensure a safe environment for those working on site, as well as members of the public, it should be noted that these excavations will be treated as construction sites.  We would also ask that the archaeological investigations and the experts working on site are not disturbed during this activity.Once any findings have been studied by the experts, the results will be made available to the public.