A8 landcape work will end in December

The information is contained in a report which was due to have been presented to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s Community Planning Committee on Wednesday August 11.

The report states that “construction of the scheme has been progressing well with the contractor Lagan Ferrovial Costain having constructed approximately 97 per cent of the works by mid April 2015.”

It adds that all eight bridges on the scheme are now substantially complete and are open to two-way traffic.

The £130 million project to improve the A8 Larne to Belfast road was originally expected to have been completed in May, but was delayed.

The route is now largely open to traffic.

Last month, it was revealed that contractors were being forced to carry out repairs to the new route after “defective” material was found in parts of the surface.

When pressed on the exact nature of the material, the spokesman explained it was “weaker aggregate contained within the mix of the surface course material.”

Transport NI said contractor Lagan Ferrovial Costain was replacing the affected areas, totalling 2.5km, at its own expense.

Joint Venture contractor Lagan Ferrovial Costain began construction of the 14.4 kilometre dual carriageway, between Coleman’s Corner and Ballyrickard Road,in August 2012.

The project is part-funded by the European Commission’s Trans European Network (TENT) funding.

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