RESIDENTS living near to the Heads of the Valleys Road between Gilwern and Brynmawr have been told to expect noise from breaking equipment and the loading of a dumper until 10pm at night this week.

A newsletters has been sent to residents telling them that overnight construction work to put a protective barrier in place will be carried out outside of normal working hours between 7pm and 6am for five days, including Friday.

The construction firm Costain is working to construct the barrier below Brunant Farm, from the Station Road, Clydach junction east towards Gilwern along the A465 road to provide protection from any possible falling material.

Costain’s project director, Bruce Richards said this will enable the firm to minimise disruption to those using the road.

He said: “To ensure that we carry out this operation safely we will need to carry out the work overnight, we will be using breaking equipment, JCB, excavator, disc cutter, vans and traffic management vehicles.”

“We will endeavour to undertake the noisier work as early as possible in the evening this has been identified as the loading dumper and will strive to complete this element by 10pm.”

Work to dual the 8.1km stretch of the A465 began in December and is expected to be finished in mid-2018.

The A465 is recognised in the Welsh Government’s National Transport Plan as strategically important route and also forms part of the Trans European Transport Network.

The scheme includes the construction of 16 major structures, over 11.5km of retaining walls as well as excavation of over 1.2million metres cubed of material.

The design includes a 50mph speed limit, improved junctions, extra laybys and a split-level carriageway.

The scheme will link up with the Abergavenny to Gilwern stretch that was completed in 2008 and the Brynmawr to Tredegar stretch which is due to be ready this year. When finished, it will provide a continuous dual carriageway between Abergavenny and Merthyr Tydfil.

The A465 between Rassau at Ebbw Vale and Tredegar will close from 7.30pm on August 13 until 6am on August 14 to allow for barriers to be removed and road works carried out. The diversion for motorists travelling in both directions is substantial and follows a route through Ebbw Vale, Blackwood and Tredegar.