REPORT NO 70016827-01 TRAMWAY TO HIGHAM WAY OUTLINE FEASIBILITY REPORT June 2016 TRAMWAY TO HIGHAM WAY OUTLINE FEASIBILITY REPORT Oxfordshire County Council Type of document (version) Project no: 70016827 Date: June 2016 – WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Mountbatten House Basing View Basingstoke Tel: +44 (0) 1256 318 800 Fax: +44 (0) 1256 318 700 www.wsp-pb.com QUALITY MANAGEMENT ISSUE/REVISION FIRST ISSUE REVISION 1 REVISION 2 REVISION 3 Remarks Draft Final Final Date 20/05/2016 17/06/2016 28/06/2016 Prepared by Georgios Savvidis Georgios Savvidis Georgios Savvidis Signature Checked by Graham Slade Graham Slade Graham Slade Signature Authorised by Graham Slade Graham Slade Graham Slade Signature Project number Report number File reference ii PRODUCTION TEAM CLIENT Function Name Natalie Moore Oxfordshire CC Project Manager WSP | PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF Function Name Project Director Graham Slade Project Manager/Structures Lead Georgios Savvidis Highways Lead Graham Hemmings Ecology Lead Rebecca Mulley Ground Engineering Lead Andrew Indoe SUBCONSULTANTS None Tramway to Higham Way WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Oxfordshire County Council Project No 70016827 June 2016 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................1 2 PROJECT BACKGROUND ..............................................................................................................................2 3 SITE DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................................................3 3.1 GEOGRAPHY .........................................................................................................................................3 4 REPORT PHILOSOPHY & ASSUMPTIONS ...................................................................................................... 6 4.1 TOPOGRAPHICAL CONSTRAINTS ...........................................................................................................7 4.2 DESIGN & BUILDABILITY ........................................................................................................................8 4.3 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................................................8 4.4 COSTS ..................................................................................................................................................8 4.5 VALUE MANAGEMENT.......................................................................................................................... 8 5 STRUCTURAL OPTIONS ..............................................................................................................................10 5.1 OPTION A: COMPOSITE STEEL BOX GIRDER ..........................................................................................10 5.2 OPTION B: CABLE STAYED ...................................................................................................................14 6 HIGHWAY OPTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 17 6.1 REVIEW OF HIGHWAY ALIGNMENT INCLUDING CONSTRAINTS .............................................................17 6.2 DEPARTURES FROM STANDARDS (IF REQUIRED) ..................................................................................17 6.3 NON-MOTORISED USER REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................ 17 6.4 TIE-IN CONSIDERATION TO EXISTING NETWORK ..................................................................................18 7 GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION ................................................................................................................20 7.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 21 7.2 GEOTECHNICAL RISK ........................................................................................................................... 22 7.3 TOPOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................... 22 7.4 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................23 7.5 GROUND CONDITIONS ........................................................................................................................ 24 7.6 REGIONAL GEOLOGY...........................................................................................................................26 7.7 DRIFT GEOLOGY..................................................................................................................................27 7.8 SOLID GEOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 28 7.9 IDENTIFIED GEOLOGICAL RISKS ...........................................................................................................28 7.10 HYDROLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 30 7.11 PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING CONSIDERATIONS................................................................................... 35 8 ENVIRONMENT ..........................................................................................................................................37 8.1 AIR QUALITY ....................................................................................................................................... 38 8.2 CULTURAL HERITAGE ..........................................................................................................................39 8.3 LANDSCAPE, TOWNSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT CULTURAL HERITAGE ................................................. 40 8.4 NATURE CONSERVATION .................................................................................................................... 41 8.5 GEOLOGY AND SOILS ..........................................................................................................................42 8.6 MATERIALS......................................................................................................................................... 43 8.7 NOISE AND VIBRATION ....................................................................................................................... 44 8.8 PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES ............................................................................................................... 44 8.9 ROAD DRAINAGE AND THE WATER ENVIRONMENT .............................................................................46 9 STATUTORY UNDERTAKERS ....................................................................................................................... 49 10 RISK REGISTER ...........................................................................................................................................50 Tramway to Higham Way WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Oxfordshire County Council Project No 70016827 June 2016 iv 11 RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................... 56 12 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................... 57 APPENDICES Appendix A – Structures A-1: Option A renders A-2: Option B renders Appendix B – Highways B-1: Highway alignment options Appendix C – Geotechnical C-1: Envirocheck report C-2: Historical boreholes Appendix C – Environment D-1: Environmental constraints map Tramway to Higham Way WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Oxfordshire County Council Project No 70016827 June 2016 1 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This outline feasibility report presents options for linking Tramway Road to Higham Way as part of the Banbury Transport Strategy, contained within the Fourth Oxfordshire Local Transport Plan (LTP4) and in response to a brief provided by Oxfordshire County Council. The main choices for a link road from Tramway Road to Highway Way are an overbridge or tunnel over / under the existing railway. The tunnel option has been ruled out of this report due to prohibitive costs and risks during construction. This report describes two structurally viable bridge options at this location and compares the parameters so that a recommendation can be reached. The recommendation of this report is subject to a number of assumptions that may influence the final outcome. The provisional recommendation is that there are a significant number of adverse issues in developing a bridge solution at this location, and that further investigation of an alternative site for a link road across the railway (east to west) should be pursued to achieve the strategic aim. Tramway to Higham Way WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Oxfordshire County Council Project No 70016827 June 2016 2 2 PROJECT BACKGROUND The Banbury Transport Strategy contained within the Fourth Oxfordshire Local Transport Plan (LTP4), identified the need for investigating the impact of a highway link within the Grimsbury area of Banbury, from east to west of the railway, and potentially, Oxford Canal and River Cherwell. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff (WSP-PB) was appointed by Oxfordshire County Council (OCC)