The A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down improvement scheme is so much more than a road and tunnel project. This upgraded transportation corridor will ease traffic congestion on the A303 and nearby roads that has blighted local communities and limited economic growth in the South West. It will also protect the UK’s cultural heritage by returning the Stonehenge landscape to one closer to its original setting by reuniting the two halves of the World Heritage Site currently separated by the road. Wildlife will be able to move freely above the tunnel and across green bridges, enhancing the area’s biodiversity. It is a legacy which AECOM, as National Highways’ technical partner on the scheme, is proud to deliver.

Our scope of work covers all the technical services to deliver the road and tunnel, as well as consultancy services to support the procurement of the main contractor. Digital solutions have played a vital role in stakeholder engagement, information management, BIM and GIS at the heart of delivery. Throughout the design phase for the Development Consent Order submission, digital design reviews using the federated model brought stakeholders and project teams together for collaborative assessment.

Digital solutions were also used to improve public engagement, including the UK’s first purpose-built digital environmental statement that presented the project’s complex environmental data, information and assessments in a user-friendly and accessible way. Tools such as visualizations, animated drive-throughs and interactive apps have been used to show local communities what the final scheme will look like in detail, keeping them engaged and involved as the project progresses. Sound demonstrations modeled the noise reduction associated with the traffic being in a tunnel as it passed the Stonehenge monument. We also used visualization technology to develop design guidance for the interior of the tunnel focused around the driver’s experience.

We are also supporting the development of client-side information systems, including the A303 Digital Twin, to enhance integration and access to project data in one visual platform.