Ramboll to upgrade two junctions on the A55 North Wales Expressway

Engineering consultancy 6801 Ramboll has won a €40 million design contract to upgrade two junctions on the A55 North Wales Expressway in the UK. 

The A55 North Wales Coast Road between Conwy and Bangor comprises one of the most dramatic highways in the country. The road squeezes between rugged mountains and the Irish Sea and comprises several tunnels.

Between 1970 and 2000 the road was renovated into a dual carriageway, linking Chester and Holyhead. It is now part of the E22 Trans European Network Route between Dublin and Moscow.

The length of Euro-route within the UK - Hull to Holyhead - comprises grade-separated interchanges allowing the free flow of traffic, apart from the at-grade roundabouts at junctions 15 and 16.

Ramboll will have to consider the encroachment of development and buildings on the inland side of the road and the proximity of the railway on the coastal side. Ramboll said that the space available for free flow links and slip roads is highly constrained.