The project is for planned maintenance works beneath the viaduct, which will help protect the structure for many years to come, and ensure the M5 motorway continues to play a key role in connecting the country.

As the works will be carried out from below the viaduct, a series of scaffold structures have been erected, with six out of the seven required having already been built for phase one, and teams are working on all six of them.

Surface preparation has been completed on Park Street, and on one of the three structures on Stone Street. Work to install cathodic protection has also been completed on Park Street, ready for the team to begin the spray concrete overlay.

The new cathodic protection system being installed across the viaduct will prevent future deterioration of the steel within the reinforced concrete structure, reducing the need for maintenance works in the years to come, and meaning fewer roadworks and less impact on road users.

The VolkerLaser team is also beginning the first phase of concrete repairs on the Stone Street spans 20/04 and 20/05, which will be ready for sprayed concrete application this week, and the first scaffold structure over the canal at Spon Lane is now in the second phase of concrete repair works. Once this is complete, cathodic protection installation will begin.

VolkerLaser project manager, James Ross, said: “All works on the project are running smoothly, with the team all working well together.”

VolkerLaser will continue to carry out all works from underneath the viaduct, with no impact on the M5 itself.