A120 Crown Interchange to Little Bentley roundabout concrete surface repairs and maintenance
We'll be carrying out specialist repairs and maintenance on the stretches of the concrete road surface on the A120 between Crown Interchange and Little Bentley roundabout in both directions.
Latest updates
-
18 December 2024
Overnight closures resume in January 2025
With the festive season fast approaching and nearly 40% of drivers planning long journeys, National Highways is removing over 1,100 miles of roadworks from motorways and major A-roads to help minimise disruption during peak travel times.
As part of our commitment to help minimise disruption during peak travel times, our weekday overnight closures on the A120 Crown Interchange to Little Bentley Roundabout will not be going ahead from Friday 20 December 2024 to Friday 3 January 2025.
The overnight closure will be reinstated on Monday 6 January from 8pm to 6am on the eastbound carriageway continuing weekday nights:
- Monday to Thursday - 8pm – 6am
- Friday - 8pm – 7am
We will move to the westbound carriageway for overnight weekday closures mid-January to March 2025. We will share further information in January 2025.
-
25 November 2024
November closure updates
Our specialist repairs and maintenance on stretches of the concrete road surface on the A120 is progressing well. These repairs will help improve the safety of the road surface and ensure a smoother and safer ride on the A120. Once complete, we expect the life of the road surface to be extended by up to five years.
Overnight road closures
To allow us to complete this work safely, we will need to have eastbound and westbound road closures. This work will be carried out between 8pm and 6am on week nights, when there’s less traffic on the road.
We had earlier advised that from Friday 29 November, there will be a change to the closure timings from 8pm – 7am just on Fridays. The timing change will now commence on Friday 6 December.
This is due to the overflow of traffic from the A12 on Friday evenings, preventing us from closing the road fully by 8pm. We need to make this time up to ensure we are still on programme and not incurring any delays. Traffic counts are still low between 6am and 7am on Saturday mornings and therefore we expect minimal disruption. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Closures
A120 (eastbound) Crown Interchange to Little Bentley roundabout.
21st October 2024 until January 2025,A120 (westbound) Little Bentley roundabout to Crown Interchange.
January 2025 until March 2025.Further information about road closures will be available here as the scheme progresses.
Diversion information
During this time, traffic wishing to travel on the A120 between Crown Interchange and Little Bentley roundabout will need to use the signed diversion route that will be in place.
Eastbound diversion
If you are traveling eastbound:
- Travel south on the A12 and exit at junction 26.
- Return north on the A12 to exit at junction 27.
- Join the A133 towards Elmstead Market.
- At the traffic lights, turn left onto Bromley Road/Harwich Road to join the A120 at Little Bentley Roundabout.
Westbound diversion
If you are traveling westbound:
- Exit Little Bentley Roundabout onto Harwich Road/Bromley Road towards Elmstead Market.
- At the traffic lights, turn right and follow the A133 through Colchester to Spring Lane Roundabout then take the entry slip road to join the A12 southbound at junction 27.
Northbound diversion
If you are traveling north towards Ipswich and the A14:
- Continue south on the A12 to junction 26.
- Exit and rejoin the A12 northbound to continue your journey.
Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.
Use our free SMS alert service
We’ve set up a free WhatsApp SMS alerts service to inform road users, via text message, of any incidents that occur within our roadworks on the A120.
You can sign up for this service here.
Please note that you can opt out at any time by contacting us on ConcreteRoadsEssex@nationalhighways.co.uk.
Please reference the ‘A120 Crown Interchange to Little Bentley Roundabout WhatsApp service’ in the subject line of your email and request for your number to be removed.
-
18 November 2024
Photo Progress Update
We are making good progress on maintenance and specialist repairs on stretches of the concrete road surface on the A120 between Crown Interchange in Colchester and Little Bentley. So far, we've replaced 23 out of 100 concrete slabs and completed 300 linear metres of repairs out of 1660 linear metres. We have included a number of photographs taken during the night works on the A120 to show the process of our work.
Photo 1: The concrete that needs to be replaced is marked into sections and saw cut. A 22 ton “rubber duck” excavator with a vacuum lifter attachment lifts the cut sections onto a flatbed lorry to be taken away for recycling. This recycled concrete can then be used on future projects as a solid base on roads before the materials and asphalt is laid. This method is quick and easy and minimises mess.
Photo 2: Once the old concrete is removed, the base underneath is cleaned and dowel bars are drilled into the side of the neighbouring concrete bays to tie it all together. Then a membrane is laid in the bottom and the concrete is poured on top. Vibrating pokers are then used to get rid of any air bubbles in the concrete.
Photo 3: The team then finish the concrete. First, a power tamp is used to level the concrete, so it is smooth to drive over. After this, the edges hand floats are used to tidy the edge into the next bay. Once the final level is achieved, a large float smooths the surface one way then as it returns back, a wire brush brushes the surface to give it a rough texture to give you grip as you drive on it.
Photo 4: Tents and heaters are then placed over the completed bay to help speed up the curing time of the concrete. On average, 3.5hrs of curing time with this method gives us enough strength in the concrete to allow us to open the road and let large lorries drive over it. As we enter winter and it gets colder, the curing time will increase.
Photo 5: After this, the bay replacement is complete and ready to be driven on. We are replacing two bays each night as well as completing other repairs including inlaid cracks.
-
25 September 2024
Work begins next month
We will start carrying out specialist repairs and maintenance on stretches of the concrete road surface on the A120 between Crown Interchange in Colchester and Little Bentley roundabout in both directions from 21 October 2024.
These repairs will help improve the safety of the road surface. It is essential that we complete specialist repairs to the potholes and cracking to ensure a smoother and safer ride on the A120. Once complete, we expect the life of the road surface to be extended by up to five years.
Overnight road closures
To allow us to complete this work safely, we will need to have eastbound and westbound road closures. This work will be carried out between 8pm and 6am on week nights, when there’s less traffic on the road.
A120 (eastbound) Crown Interchange to Little Bentley roundabout.
21st October 2024 until January 2025,A120 (westbound) Little Bentley roundabout to Crown Interchange.
January 2025 until March 2025.Further information about road closures will be available here as the scheme progresses.
Diversion information
During this time, traffic wishing to travel on the A120 between Crown Interchange and Little Bentley roundabout will need to use the signed diversion route that will be in place.
Eastbound diversion:
If you are traveling eastbound:
- Travel south on the A12 and exit at junction 26.
- Return north on the A12 to exit at junction 27.
- Join the A133 towards Elmstead Market.
- At the traffic lights, turn left onto Bromley Road/Harwich Road to join the A120 at Little Bentley Roundabout.
Westbound diversion:
If you are traveling westbound:
- Exit Little Bentley Roundabout onto Harwich Road/Bromley Road towards Elmstead Market.
- At the traffic lights, turn right and follow the A133 through Colchester to Spring Lane Roundabout then take the entry slip road to join the A12 southbound at junction 27.
Northbound diversion:
If you are traveling north towards Ipswich and the A14:
- Continue south on the A12 to junction 26.
- Exit and rejoin the A12 northbound to continue your journey.
Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.
Use Our Free SMS Alert Service
We’ve set up a free WhatsApp SMS alerts service to inform road users, via text message, of any incidents that occur within our roadworks on the A120.
You can sign up for this service here.
Please note that you can opt out at any time by contacting us on ConcreteRoadsEssex@nationalhighways.co.uk.
Please reference the ‘A120 Crown Interchange to Little Bentley Roundabout WhatsApp service’ in the subject line of your email and request for your number to be removed.
Project information
Overview
Concrete roads that were designed between the 1950s and 1970s have lasted incredibly well and have provided on average 50 years of surface life. However, across the Strategic Road Network, and primarily in the East region, concrete roads are reaching the end of their design life and will need to be repaired or replaced for safety reasons, and serviceability issues for example noise and ride quality.
Due to the condition of the concrete surface on the A120 between Crown Interchange to Little Bentley Roundabout, this section has been identified as requiring maintenance.
Benefits
Our road repairs will help improve the safety of the road surface. It is essential that we complete specialist repairs to the potholes and cracking to ensure a smoother and safer ride on the A120. Once complete, we expect the life of the road surface to be extended by up to five years.
Documents
Traffic information
Information about scheduled roadworks and events on our motorways and major roads.X
Manage your cookie preferences to view the content on this page
Sign up for updates!
Keep up to date with what's happening on this scheme by signing up to our updates.
