Amazingly we had roadworks on Park Lane this week and there was little disruption to community life and no complaints on Facebook.

I did chat to the people doing the work and complimented them on ensuring that there were no carriage way obstructions at peak times, and on switching off their engines when they were not actually doing anything.

I asked the Officer at the County Council about the work. He said:

‘The work that is currently going on at Park Lane/Harding Way, Histon is being carried out by Skanska to improve the structural stability & load bearing capacity in accordance with Highways’ maintenance programme. The work consists of the installation of fibre reinforced plastic on the soffit of the bridge to improve the structure’s capacity. Temporary damming of the watercourse (Award Drain 165), and diversion through the bridge via a diversion pipe will be necessary, to ensure the safety of the operatives installing the FRP within the structure

These works are not those we are currently negotiating with A14/Highways England regarding Legacy Funding for the culvert at Park Lane. Nevertheless, they will compliment those works, because one element of the Skanska bridge improvement work at Harding Way is to remove accumulated silt, that could otherwise cause an obstruction to the watercourse if it were left unmaintained.

The work at Harding Way received ordinary watercourse land drainage consent from the Flood & Water Team as it involved temporary damming of the watercourse.’

And for those who, like me, don’t know what a ‘soffit’ is … it’s not a typo it’s ‘the underside of an architectural structure such as an arch, a balcony, or overhanging eaves’.

You learn something everyday.

Job well done!