The Welsh Government has confirmed that the Costain scheme to widen the road between Gilwern and Brynmawr has increased by £54.9m
The government has also revealed that the Heads of the Valleys road will miss its opening deadline and will not be fully complete until 2020.
Minister for Economy and Transport, Ken States, revealed the issues are on Section 2 where Costain is widening the road between Gilwern and Brynmawr within the steep-sided and environmentally sensitive Clydach Gorge.
Skates said: “The project has experienced delays and cost increases due to difficulties experienced on site. Costain has highlighted that the primary reason for this is due to a complex construction solution required to address the geological feature that they have discovered in one particular location along the scheme. The solution required will impact on the construction costs and programme.
“While the vast majority of the scheme will be completed by December 2019, completion of the full scheme will now extend into 2020. The project has also experienced further cost increases and is now projected to be some £54.90m (incl. VAT) over the revised budget.”
He added: “I am obviously very disappointed by this news; however, my officials are working with Costain to deliver the project as soon as practically possible.
“The project team continues to use a range of methods to keep stakeholders informed of progress on site, particularly road closures.”
