Essex County Council (ECC) is currently engaged on two nationally significant highway infrastructure projects which will have considerable transport, environmental and economic long-term impacts on residents, businesses and local communities. Both projects are being promoted by National Highways and seeking consent in the form of Development Consent Orders, though the Planning Act 2008.
The A12 widening project is a £1.3bn scheme which is seeking to upgrade the A12 between Chelmsford (Junction 19) and Colchester (Junction 25). The scheme includes widening of the road from 2-lanes to 3-lanes in each direction and the relocation and rebuilding of junctions, and will significantly affect the local highway network. The six month DCO examination started in January and will conclude in July, following which a decision will be made about whether to progress the scheme by Government.
The Lower Thames Crossing project is a new tunnelled highway crossing of the River Thames which includes 14 miles of new road connecting the M2/A2, A13 and M25 with around 50 new bridges and viaducts. With a value in excess of £8bn the scheme is the second biggest transport infrastructure project in the country after HS2. National Highways submitted their application for a DCO in October 2022 and the six month examination is expected to start within the next few months.
The council’s engagement, in our role as a host authority, provides a rare opportunity for up to two students to get some first-hand experience of working on two major infrastructure projects concurrently which are currently in their planning and design stages. We are particularly interested in applications from students who are studying in the fields of town planning, transport, civil engineering or human geography, to provide the council’s team with support including the following tasks:
- Maintaining the programme and actions trackers
- Recording agreements made with National Highways
- Responding to questions and requests for information from the examinations
- Engagement with project stakeholders including producing meeting notes and actions logs
- Maintaining the document library
- Providing project updates to councillors and other council colleagues
Placement info:
- 2 days per week until Dec 2023
- Potentially 2 students
- Students would be provided with an ECC laptop and would work from County Hall (Chelmsford) on Wednesdays, if possible
- Flexibility on days and hours worked
- Timeline - ASAP
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