Through the West Midlands, various parts of the M5 are elevated, otherwise known as viaducts, they were constructed in the late 1960s. The Oldbury viaduct carries 120,000 vehicles a day through Sandwell. As the number of vehicles continues to increase, the amount of maintenance required to keep this motorway safe has increased also.

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Joint venture BMV (BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall, VolkerFitzpatrick) are undertaking key repair works to the Oldbury Viaduct, between junctions 1 and 2, for Highways England.

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The 3.2km stretch of elevated viaduct requires multiple deck repairs in order to increase its lifespan. To achieve this, BMV will remove the viaduct’s surface and carry out tests to establish where repairs are needed.

All deck ends and joints will be re-constructed and the underslung drainage will be replaced. Once the repairs are completed, the road surface will then be replaced.

This large-scale, multifaceted project will feature a range of specialisms including hydrodemolition, concrete repair, verge construction works and waterproofing operations.

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ScanTech's involvement in this project is to ensure the quality of the repair welds on the reinforcing bars on the elevated sections of the Oldbury Viaduct. We are conducting Magnetic Particle Inspections, Hardness Tests and Ultrasonic Tests to determine that there are no discontinuities in these new welds.