Stephen Jones, senior project manager, Mott MacDonald

I’m working on a major improvement scheme for the Highways Agency, on the A3 where it passes through the Devil’s Punchbowl, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Site of Special Scientific Interest. It’s the last remaining section of single carriageway on the A3, and includes traffic lights that cause significant delays. The scheme involves constructing a dual-carriageway bypass of Hindhead, including a tunnel underneath the Devil’s Punchbowl. The old road will be landscaped over and an existing byway improved to give better access for pedestrians, wheelchair users, cyclists and horses. There will be strong environmental benefits, which is unusual for a road scheme.

I’ve managed the whole design process, and it’s been fascinating to work with teams from so many disciplines – highways, environmental, geotechnical, tunnels, bridges, buildings, and mechanical and electrical. In one meeting we might talk about dormice or bats; in the next discuss emergency systems in the tunnel. We worked hard to get approval at public enquiry, and consulted all stakeholders – particularly the National Trust – to make sure we met their needs. We started work on site in January this year – it’s wonderful to be building something! The road should be finished in 2011 and landscaping works completed in 2012.

Stephen Jones, CEng MICE MIHT, is a senior project manager at Mott MacDonald with 28 years’ experience.