Environment - Construction Phase

The M6 Toll represents a massive investment in Britain's infrastructure. The following measures were taken to minimise the environmental impact.

• 2 million tonnes of topsoil was put aside for reuse
• 3 million tonnes of sand and gravel were recycled for use in drainage material and concrete for bridges and road surfaces
• recycling of materials reduced the number of heavy lorry journeys to and from the site by 400,000
• the construction of one main haulage route through the site reduced congestion and delays on local roads

Preserving buildings and industrial sites

Buildings
As well as investigating possible heritage sites along the route, we carried out a comprehensive study of properties within a 500-metre wide boundary on either side of the motorway. We found that there were 35 listed buildings within this area, none of which were affected by construction. The study did show that the settings of four of the listed buildings would be affected by construction, so here we took appropriate measures to limit the effects of the road.

Five non-listed buildings of local historic interest had to be demolished, and further studies of two of these buildings were carried out beforehand.

Lock Keepers Cottage, Dunton Wharf
The Birmingham to Fazeley Canal was an important early canal constructed between 1783 and 1790.

The cottage revealed several phases of development. The original late 18th century brick built cottage had undergone a number of alterations during its lifetime. A two-storey extension was built on to the east during the early 19th century followed by a further extension to the rear in the late 19th century.

Swan Farm, Norton Canes
Earliest parts of the building possibly date to the early 18th century. There was evidence of further extensions and alterations in the late 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The appearance of the building suggested a long period of alteration and expansion rather than a single build to a particular design. This probably reflected the growing wealth of the farm over an extended period.






Industrial Sites
The system of canals in the United Kingdom played an important part in the transition from a largely agricultural land to an industrial one and is of considerable historical interest. There are a number of canals in the area of M6 Toll.

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
In order to accommodate the M6 Toll at Dunton, a brand new lock was built to replace an existing one, which was on the line of the motorway. The water level of the canal was lowered by approximately 2 metres to allow a new bridge to take the M6 Toll over the canal. Archaeologists supervised the demolition of the existing lock to ensure that details of the original lock construction were recorded for future interest.

Hatherton Canal
We constructed two culverts large enough to be incorporated as tunnels into any future restoration of the Hatherton Canal through Churchbridge. One of the tunnels passes beneath the A5 and the other crosses beneath the M6 Toll by Walkmill Way.

This work followed the introduction of new Government guidelines, intended to ensure that canal restoration projects are taken into consideration when road improvements are planned. Although the guidelines were introduced too late to affect M6 Toll, special measures were agreed in the case of both Hatherton and Lichfield canals.

Lichfield Canal
As part of construction, we were committed to provide the foundations for an aqueduct for the Lichfield Canal, where it crosses the M6 Toll north of Muckley Corner. The Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust raised sufficient funds under the David Suchet Appeal to construct a trough for the aqueduct, which was installed in August 2003. This means that any future restoration of the canal will not be impeded by the motorway.

Dr David Fletcher CBE, former Chief Executive of British Waterways and Trust Patron with Chris Coburn, waterways activist and Trust Patron. The picture was taken at the ceremony to officially mark the completion of the installation of the trough.



David Suchet on site during the construction of the foundations for the aqueduct.

Canal Trust's website: www.lhcrt.org.uk

Environment - Operations Phase   

 We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and for this reason we are constantly looking at ways of mitigating the potential adverse impacts from our motorway and take every opportunity to enhance the environment taking into account value for money. 

We have to balance our responsibility to develop and operate the road with the needs of neighbouring communities and the wider environment. We strive to achieve this by integrating environmental considerations into all our operations. Part of our improvement is the achievement of the ISO 14001 Standard in December of 2006 in which we set targets for delivering environmental improvements around the network.

This standard ensures we are constantly revisiting our approach and goals in our comprehensive Environmental Management System and where possible we try to influence the contractors and suppliers we use to adopt the same ethos. This will enable us to ensure that the activities we undertake are carried out in such a way as to be supportive of environmental objectives e.g. waste minimisation, the protection of the ecology and flora and fauna.

• Waste management- this is to reduce the volume of waste we produce as a direct result of our operations and from the indirect, such as litter picking the roadside. What is produced or collected is then segregated and recycled where practical.

• Reduction of emissions- by working with the local authorities in improving emissions on local roads by encouraging local traffic to use the M6 Toll
• Reduction in water usage- by using sewage treatment plants for all our buildings to ensure we discharge clean water back into the natural watercourse
• Emergency preparedness- to deal with spillages on and around the motorway to ensure no damage occurs to the delicate natural habitats to ensure they establish further for everyone's future 

 Please click here to read our Environmental Statement