Jones Bros is praised after Newbridge Road reopens 6th Oct 2025
“This has been a big and complex repair job, and we’d like to thank Jones Bros for their expertise and commitment to the project.”
These are the words from Wrexham County Borough Council after Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK’s proficiency led to the reopening of the B5605 in Newbridge after more than four years.
Subject to a landslip in 2021 during Storm Christoph, Newbridge Road was closed, cutting off an important link between Cefn Mawr and Chirk and adding to traffic congestion in Llangollen and surrounding areas.
Following the undertaking of ground investigation activity, Jones Bros and design team Mott MacDonald combined to formulate a plan for the rebuilding of the road, which provided plenty of challenges along the way.
Senior Contracts Manager Elgan Ellis, part of a Jones Bros team of half-a-dozen, said: “There was a lot of planning involved, given that the steep slope from the top to the bottom of the road is 32 degrees.
“Access to the works needed to be established to make sure we could get a 45-tonne rig to the area, and that’s before delivery of the 17m-long circular pile cages and the concrete required to form the piles.
“The ground was wet and very unstable, the slope was very steep, and we also had a wide, protected River Dee at the bottom to contend with.
“Designs for the retaining wall had to be well thought through and resilient to the site’s geography, so this required comprehensive planning. However, we achieved a result that we are pleased with.
“It was a complex project, one of the most challenging I’ve been involved in, but our highly skilled team worked diligently to make sure the scheme was completed and the community could return to using the road.”
A spokesperson for Wrexham County Borough Council added: “When you drive along the road, everything looks very much the same as it did before, and it’s difficult to see the size and scope of engineering that’s taken place.
“But beneath the surface, there’s a huge amount of work that’s taken place and some very complex engineering.
“It’s been a big project, and we’re very pleased to see this important road open again.”
Established in the 1950s, Jones Bros owns one of the largest plant fleets in the UK and employs approximately 550 people.
The company is currently working on contracts in various sectors including highways , flood and marine defence , reservoirs, waste management , and renewable energy around the UK.
The company runs an award-winning apprenticeship scheme, which has produced a large percentage of its current workforce, with several of its senior managers having started out as apprentices or in a trainee role. It has recruited hundreds of apprentices over the years.