Fitzpatrick and Lafarge may face £1m delay fine

Fitzpatrick and Lafarge could be in line for hefty fines of up to £1m from the Highways Agency (HA) following a delay of at least three months on its £25.7m A10 Wadesmill bypass scheme in Hertfordshire.

The project team, consisting of a joint venture of Fitzpatrick/Lafarge and consultants URS and Mott MacDonald, was expected to complete remediation works on the 7.5km bypass by the end of this month.

The work was required after the discovery in April of surface cracking and ridging from a chemical reaction on the lime-stabilised capping foundation layer of the road.

Fitzpatrick had originally removed nearly 10% of the road when repair work started in May to test for the extent of the corrosion. Recently this was increased to 25%, as specified by the HA.

However, a statement from the HA has revealed that works are likely to be completed in October because 35% of the carriageway now has to be replaced to its full depth in order to prove that the remainder of the carriageway was acceptable and to "reduce the risk of further defects".

Additional work on the site will also include the partial replacement of a section of reinforced earth embankment.

"As more of the road is being repaired, the work will now take longer than originally expected," the statement continued. "The contractor anticipates that work is likely to finish in October. The date of completion and opening of the bypass will be confirmed as work progresses."

One source told CJ that the contractors’ penalties could run up to £1m if work isn’t completed by the end of October, based on a typical penalty payment scale of around £15,000 for each of the 61 days the bypass could remain closed past the agreed opening date.

Fitzpatrick refused to make any comment.

An HA spokeswoman said: "The main focus at the moment is getting the work done and the bypass opened. After this point, the agency will sit down with the contractors, discuss what went wrong and see what action, if any, needs to be taken."

The spokeswoman was also unable to confirm whether the problems were caused by the application or the quality of the materials.