LMS Highways Delivers 6 Bays Per Night on Major M20 Concrete Bay Replacement Project.

Junction 8-9 of the M20 spans a distance of 21.6 kilometres and is the major travel corridor to the English Channel. This section of the motorway is also crucial for Operation Brock, a contraflow system designed to manage traffic disruptions across the English Channel. Operation Brock enables the M20 and other roads in Kent to remain operational during such disruptions by temporarily holding HGV traffic heading to the Port of Dover or the Eurotunnel in designated lanes, effectively transforming the section into a ‘lorry car park.’

Given the essential nature and heavy traffic load of this corridor, its imperative the road condition is closely monitored and well maintained to avoid any severe disruptions. The imminent launch of the new Entry/ Exit System of border controls added urgency to the project, leaving only a limited window of several weeks to complete all necessary concrete bay replacements and associated repairs on both the London and Coastbound carriageways.

LMS Highways last provided repairs to the M20 junction 8-9 back in 2018 in preparation for ‘Brexits Operation Stack,’ which had a similar purpose to Operation Brock. During that project, the team removed and reinstating an approximate 19 tonnes of concrete per day, totaling roughly 1,600 tonnes over a 12-weeks period.

In the latest project, which began in September 2024, LMS Highways demonstrated advanced skills and commitment to innovation. The team successfully removed and reinstated approximately 2,800 tonnes of concrete on both the London and Coastbound carriageways in just 7 weeks, a significant improvement in efficiency.

With decades of experience, LMS Highways has established itself as specialists in urgent repairs and rapid concrete bay replacements. These capabilities made LMS an ideal choice for this time sensitive project, where prolonged road closures and disruptions were not viable options.

Key factors contributing to LMS Highways’ success include:

• Meticulous prior planning: Ensuring a comprehensive understanding of project requirements and constraints.
• Skilled Workforce: All staff and sub-contractors working for LMS Highways are highly trained and meticulously chosen.
• Bespoke Equipment: We utilise bespoke plant and machinery designed for optimal performance.
• Innovative Materials: We’ll always use the most appropriate materials to fit a clients budgets and timelines. In this case we used our newly developed low carbon, rapid set concrete, Premcrete.

In just seven weeks, LMS Highways completed the removal and the reinstatement of over 890 cubic metres of concrete. The use of our rapid set concrete mix ensured minimal disruption to the M20 junction 8-9 and allowed the team to deliver the project within such a tight schedule.

• 44 Shifts
• 2,800+ Tonnes of Concrete Removed
• 1,060+ Cubic Metres of Concrete Installed
• 2,300+ Linear Metres of Joint Sealing Installed

The use of Premcrete concrete enabled rapid setting and minimal disruption, ensuring the project was completed within the limited timeframe. This successful delivery highlights LMS Highways’ dedication to providing innovative, efficient, and high-quality solutions for essential infrastructure improvements.

“From the start, this was a real partnership. We worked closely with LMS Highways to develop a rapid-set concrete that could genuinely shift the dial in terms of speed, carbon, and delivery certainty — and they were involved at every step. Not only did they take on the trials themselves at their own expense, but they also provided invaluable feedback that helped us refine the product in real-world conditions.

The result is a material that doesn’t just perform in theory — it performs on site, under pressure. What LMS achieved on the M20 proved that. Full-depth slab replacements delivered at pace, minimal disruption, and a clear reduction in shifts and carbon footprint. It showed what’s possible when great product meets great execution.

We genuinely believe this product can help change how critical infrastructure gets delivered across the UK — not just on roads, but in ports, airfields, and anywhere speed and reliability matter. But the truth is, it only works because of teams like LMS. Their experience, precision, and willingness to lead from the front made it all possible.”– Alvin John, Technical Sales Manager (Civils) for Premcrete

Starting in early February, LMS Highways have been working on behalf of Balvac to deliver a Concrete Maintenance Project located on the M53.

LMS were instructed to remove old, damaged sections of concrete carriageway and prepare the subbase in preparation for the road to receive asphalt reinstatement. Along with this, partial depth concrete repairs and further life extension repairs such as thin bond and joint repairs have been provided.

In early February the team began prepping the site by marking the areas due to be repaired, joints were pre-sawn ahead of the breakout and many smaller repairs have been carried out to the joints. Often the forgotten part in any concrete carriageway maintenance regime is the joint sealing, keeping the water above the slabs and directing it to proper drainage is the number one priority to prevent undermining or softening of the subbase – otherwise cracked, dropped and/or rocking slabs can be the result. This is where carrying out a range of treatments from repair to replacement is necessary to extend the life of a concrete carriageway.

By mid Feb the LMS team, lead by Paul Burton who has over 32 years in the industry began to remove the concrete bays, a process which LMS Highways has refined over the years enabling them to work within the most challenging conditions and keep to extremely tight work schedules. This is achieved by having not only an experienced and highly trained workforce but specialist equipment such as our vacuum lifting plate which allows large sections of concrete to be removed in one continuous piece. Working alongside this is our custom-made lifting bucket which focuses on removing smaller pieces and the sections which are subject to heavy surfacing cracking where a vacuum seal isn’t possible.

Balvacs Project Manager Andrew Higson was on site during the first night of breakout and had the following comments. –

“I’m pleased to hear that we got the first 13 bays removed and reinstated as planned last night… and with an hour to spare. There was no luck involved in this. The coordination planning in the lead up, and the excellent communication (and safety controls) that I witnessed last night, were key to delivering these works successfully.  This gives us real confidence that the programme for the next two weekends is achievable. Please pass on my thanks to your teams. Well done to all involved!” – Andrew Higson, Project Manager for Balvac

Working on behalf of Eurovia, LMS Highways delivers full road refurbishments to Old Thanet Way and Sea Street in Kent.

For some time, the concrete urban and residential streets in Kent County Council’s area have proven to be a maintenance headache for the local authority and their main contractor Eurovia.

The road refurbishment project which took approximately 10 weeks to complete included full depth concrete bay replacements, new kerbing, white lining and joint sealing which perfectly demonstrates the company’s unique ability to deliver a wide range of services under one point of accountability.

Running through from the beginning of July to early September 2019 saw the project being delivered during a UK heatwave. With temperatures reaching a high of 38 degrees Celsius proving challenging however this didn’t stop the team from finishing 3 days ahead of schedule.

With the hot weather additional care had to be taken as LMS were already using a rapid cure concrete to enable delivery of a tight programme. With concrete planned to cure in 24 hours at an ambient temperature of 18 degrees, the hot weather can give rise to problems with material work-ability / working time and there is also potential for the finished surface to crack if it is allowed to dry out too quickly. No problem for the LMS delivery team – the programme was adjusted to ensure pours were carried out on cooler days with greater cloud cover and also programmed concrete placement to take place first thing in the morning whilst substrate temperatures were at their lowest.

Concrete curing too fast isn’t normally a problem that needs to be solved. Typically clients are looking to have works carried out in as short a time frame as possible with roads opened to traffic after the shortest feasible curing period. Concrete normally needs to be left for 7 days to allow it to reach a suitable internal and surface strength to allow it to be trafficked. With increased traffic flows the ability to close lanes for this period is a rare luxury and LMS Highways have developed bay replacement systems that can be trafficked in as little as 4 hours!

For some time, a group of concrete urban and residential streets in Kent County Council’s area have proven to be a maintenance headache for the local authority and their main contractor Eurovia.

For various reasons due to the condition of the underlying surface, spot repairs have proven to be ineffective, costly and short-term with bad weather and heavy vehicle damage quickly causing more problems to repaired areas. Potholes, fretting and large-scale cracking not only cause potential liabilities from motorists damaging their vehicles but also lead to traffic chaos and residential complaints.

So it was with great interest to Eurovia in the summer of 2017 when one of their engineers received a video of LMS Civil Solutions’ respected concrete bay replacement process.

The service, which is normally provided on motorways and major routes is a particularly effective long-term solution and after a quick phone call leading to a meeting, all parties agreed that the process could be adapted and applied to an urban setting to provide a long-term solution to KCC’s problems.

A particularly powerful and unique feather in the bow of LMS Civil Solutions is that combined with LMS Highways’ service portfolio, the company can offer a “Kerb to Kerb” solution for the customer who also required other specialities within the scheme such as joint repairs, manhole and gully repairs and refurbishments and of course road marking reinstatement.

A decision was therefore taken to proceed with some key sites. The work commenced in late October with one of the key proving grounds being Cranborne Avenue, a residential street in Maidstone which connects directly with the busy A229.

Challenges included the heavily residential nature of the street and the fact that there was limited space due the roads and paths being reasonably narrow. Despite these challenges, the LMS Civil Solutions team were able to work quickly within short-term partial closures, allowing residents much-needed access to their street. That speed was achieved thanks to the team’s refined processes including in part, the speed of removal of the existing damaged surface. A vacuum-lift system is employed allowing larger sections to be removed as one complete piece and lifted straight onto a disposal truck. Smaller sections are removed using a grab and then just like the motorway version of the process the team immediately prepares the emptied area for the concrete pour. A waterproof membrane and reinforcing rebar is added and connecting dowel holes drilled.

The concrete formula is different to that used on trunk roads and has been chosen to specifically suit the urban environment. LMS Civil Solutions worked closely with Cemex to ensure a concrete product was used that provided the maximum combination of value for money and longevity.

Up to 35 linear metres full width can be replaced within a single day with trafficking possible after just 24 hours. The new surface benefits from an expected service life of 25 years.

Eurovia and Kent County Council were very pleased with the results and are evaluating the solution for several other sites in the area. Council engineers visited Cranborne Avenue during the works and were particularly impressed with the speed of removal due to the vacuum plate system.

“We were very impressed with the work at Cranborne Avenue and believe residents have been quite satisfied by the way this was handled. Not only was the work completed efficiently, on-time and on-budget but noise was kept to a minimum and it’s clear to see that the LMS Civil Solutions team have refined their processes very well to keep things on track. It is of particular value to us and our customer that LMS were able to cope with all the requirements on site and to provide a single point of accountability that works well.” Dave Gibbins – Contracts Manager Eurovia.

The experience of working in the residential environment and the nature of the underlying conditions have given Paul Burton who heads up the LMS Civil Solutions team, much food for thought.

“The specific experience of the condition of the surface from this site gave us some ideas of ways we could improve the removal process and make it even more efficient. Consequently, we’re testing a brand-new bucket which will be a UK exclusive for LMS Civil Solutions. This will enable us to remove a mixture of solid and broken concrete without the need to continuously change buckets.” Paul Burton – Project Manager LMS Civil Solutions.

Throughout the Cranborne Avenue project, residential engagement was excellent with residents taking an interest in the methods used with great feedback being received regarding the low noise levels, fast turnaround and friendly accommodating attitude of the team on-site.