IN Brief:
- Jacobs will design renewal work for the M32 Eastville Viaduct.
- Preliminary intervention design will be completed for the M5 Wynhol Viaduct.
- A five-year framework role covers project management on at least 15 schemes.
Jacobs has secured three National Highways commissions covering viaduct renewal, preliminary structural design, and programme management across England’s strategic road network.
Two appointments have been made through the Technical Assurance and Asset Management Framework. Jacobs will complete stages three to five of detailed design for the M32 Eastville Viaduct in Bristol and stages one and two of preliminary design for the M5 Wynhol Viaduct.
Eastville Viaduct carries the M32 towards central Bristol and forms a key commuter and freight route between the city, M4, and M5. The design work will focus on structural renewal and extending the asset’s service life, while reducing the risk of unplanned closures and disruptive reactive maintenance.
At Wynhol Viaduct, Jacobs will assess structural requirements and develop potential interventions for an asset on one of the country’s principal north–south freight corridors. Preliminary design will establish the condition, constraints, options, and likely delivery approach before the scheme advances into detailed development.
The company has also been appointed to the Construction and Professional Management Services project-management framework, where it will lead a multidisciplinary team supporting at least 15 schemes. The agreement has an initial three-year term, with two possible one-year extensions.
Richard Sanderson, executive vice-president at Jacobs, said: “These three strategic awards build on Jacobs’ strong track record with National Highways. Together, we are focused on delivering resilient, future-ready infrastructure that keeps people and goods moving safely and reliably across the UK.”
Renewal work is absorbing more road investment
Ageing structures now account for a growing share of expenditure across the strategic road network. Many viaducts, bridges, retaining walls, and drainage systems were built during the rapid expansion of the motorway network and require substantial renewal while remaining in continuous use.
Unlike greenfield road construction, major maintenance schemes must be developed around live traffic, uncertain asset condition, limited access, utilities, environmental constraints, and the need to preserve emergency routes. Intrusive surveys frequently reveal conditions that cannot be fully established from records, leaving design teams to manage uncertainty through adaptable interventions and carefully defined risk allowances.
Traffic management can represent a substantial part of cost and programme. Lane closures, contraflows, night working, temporary barriers, access scaffolds, and possessions must be planned around network capacity, while design decisions that reduce the number or duration of interventions can produce savings well beyond the direct construction package.
National Highways is also progressing major additions to the network, including the Lower Thames Crossing tunnelling programme, although maintenance of existing assets will continue to absorb increasing technical and delivery resources. New infrastructure attracts attention, but the operational network carries the daily freight and passenger demand.
Digital records, structural monitoring, and improved asset data are becoming central to renewal planning. Better information can help clients distinguish between structures requiring immediate intervention and those where targeted maintenance can safely defer more extensive work.
Retaining usable structure can also reduce embodied carbon when compared with demolition and replacement. That approach depends on reliable condition data, confidence in the remaining service life, and design solutions capable of addressing localised deterioration without creating new weaknesses elsewhere.
The project-management framework gives Jacobs a role beyond individual technical commissions. Managing a portfolio of at least 15 schemes requires consistency in governance, risk reporting, procurement, benefits measurement, programme controls, and stakeholder coordination.
Portfolio-level management can also transfer lessons between projects rather than repeatedly rebuilding processes for separate assets. Where similar defects, access constraints, or traffic-management arrangements recur, standardised approaches can reduce design time and improve cost certainty.
Supply-chain capacity remains a constraint across bridge and viaduct programmes. Specialist repair contractors, temporary-works designers, access providers, bearing manufacturers, waterproofing installers, and structural monitoring companies are required across highways, rail, and local-authority projects.
Jacobs employs more than 6,000 people in the UK across 15 principal offices and more than 35 additional sites. The new commissions extend its role across both individual asset interventions and the broader management of roads investment.
