Grantham relief road delayed by up to 18 months and over budget

The £133m project could be delayed for up to 18 months, highways officials said

A major road building project in Lincolnshire could be delayed for up to 18 months after engineers found an area of ground was "too soft to build on".

The Grantham southern relief road scheme was due to be completed by 2023, but could now run until 2025.

Lincolnshire County Council said it also expected the costs of the £133m project to rise by about £15m.

The relief road will run 2.1 miles (3.5km) around the south of the town, linking the A1 to the A52.

Richard Davies, executive member for highways in Lincolnshire, said a section of "soft, unstable ground" had been identified where a new bridge over the East Coast Main Line and River Witham was being built.

"During construction of the relief road's new bridge, the on-site team found the ground on the eastern embankment had moved," he said.

Engineers found the ground for a bridge over the East Coast Mainline was "too soft to build on"

Mr Davies said they were working with the bridge's designer to determine the cause of the issue.

"However, because the ground here is too soft to build on, we're now in the early stages of preparing a planning application to extend the length of the bridge to avoid the unstable ground," he said.

"Unfortunately, this will have an impact on the project's completion date, which will now stretch beyond our original timeframe of late 2023.

"And with the price of construction materials increasing, it could cost several million more to get the road built," he added.

The Grantham southern relief road project is being led by Lincolnshire County Council, with support from partners, including South Kesteven District Council and the Department for Transport.