A6 Dualling - Londonderry to Dungiven - Northern Ireland Roads Site

This major project was first announced on 13 December 2005 by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain as part of a larger investment package for the city of Derry. It will see a dual-carriageway bypass of Dungiven town and dualling of the existing A6 from there to the A2 on the north-eastern periphery of Derry city. The road will be build to a high quality with two lanes each way, no breaks in the central barrier and fully grade separated junctions (ie flyovers). Plans announced in 2004 for a single-carriageway bypass of Dungiven at a cost of £11.1m have been subsumed by this much larger scheme, although the preliminary work done will still apply. The map below shows the section of the A6 affected by this upgrade which finally got underway in spring 2018:

The chosen route closely follows the existing A6, but generally off to one side apart from an onlien section around Burntollet. At the Derry end it heads inland and bypasses Drumahoe well to the north, terminating on the A2 at Caw. At the eastern end it bypasses Dungiven to the south. The most recent plan was published in February 2016 and is accessible here:

This is a strip map of the design that was published in May 2009, and is still correct as of the updated design published in February 2016. Note that the design may change between this map and construction due to the evolution of the design, and the public inquiry.

27 Jul 2020: This update is to bring another 20 photographs, again thanks to Alan Lynas, Esther Harper, Paul McCloskey and Aerial Vision NI. Work seems to be progressing well along all parts of the scheme. The commentary is in the captions to the photos below which are arranged in order from west to east. Some areas do not have photographs - this does not mean that nothing is happening there merely that i don't have photos of them. For example, work seems to be finally getting started at Liberty Glen (just east of Drumahoe), which will be the longest bridge on the entire scheme at just under 200 metres in length and passing about 13 metres above lowest ground level.

Pic 1 - A set of enormous steel beams waiting patiently at Burntollet on 24 July 2020 ready to be craned into place onto the new bridge once the abutments are ready. This bridge is too long for the more usual concrete beam construction. [Alan Lynas]

Pic 2 - Burntollet bridge on 24 July 2020, showing the abutments for the northern half of the new bridge taking shape adjacent to the existing 1950s bridge. This is where the beams in pic 1 will be placed eventually. Over the past few months there have been concerns about pollution incidents in watercourses along the scheme, especially the Faughan which runs particularly close to the site at Burntollet. The matter was raised in Stormont in late June when the DFI Minister said that NIEA was being proactive in investigating. Let's hope incidents of this nature do not occur going forward. [Alan Lynas]

Pic 3 - View looking west from Burntollet on 24 July 2020 showing all traffic on a temporary road that has been built adjacent to the A6. This is to allow the construction of The Oaks accommodation bridge which will pass over the new road on the site of the old road. Ahead, the temporary road curves to the right and then to the left where it continues as the Ervey Road Link, a permanent access road that has just been built and is temporarily carrying all A6 traffic. The diversion came into use on 23 July and will be in place for several months. [Alan Lynas]

Pic 4 - View in the other direction (towards Burntollet) on 24 July 2020 showing the temporary diversion rejoining the existing road. [Alan Lynas]

Pic 5 - View west at the site of the future Killaloo (Gulf Road) grade separated junction west of Claudy on 19 July 2020. The new road will subsume the existing road here, so the embankment beside the road has been cut back to accommodate the wider road, though most of the widening will be on the left. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 6 - Work on the future Killaloo flyover is so far limited to the southern abutment (shown here on 19 July 2020) plus the central pillars (not shown) as well as some of the approach embankments beyond. It will be some time yet before the beams are placed. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 7 - View west along the existing A6 from just west of Claudy crossroads (Baranailt Road) on 19 July 2020. Although the road here is an online upgrade, it actually swings to the left here to achieve the correct geometry for the Claudy junction. The whole area on the left here will be the future dual-carriageway, while the existing A6 shown here will be largely removed and replaced with a much narrower agricultural access road. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 8 - Gortilea Road bridge looking rather gorgeous (in the engineering sense!) in the sun on 19 July 2020 with its fresh concrete and completed bridge deck. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 9 - View west along the route of the future road from near Ballyhanedin Road on 19 July 2020. From here to Dungiven the road runs offline, meaning that the existing road (visible on the extreme right) will remain in place. This was one part of the scheme that was least-advanced, but these photos show major earthworks now underway. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 10 - Same location as pic 9 but looking east towards the site of the future Ballyhanedin Road bridge on 19 July 2020 - the central bridge pillars are beside the excavator, while the southern abutment is visible to the right. Much still to be done here. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 11 - View west along the future dual-carriageway from Crock-na-brock Road (now permanently closed here) near Foreglen on 19 July 2020. Works here have included a major culvert over a local watercourse, now completed. Paul McCloskey]

Pic 12 - The batching plant at Ovil (near Foreglen) is now up and running, as seen here on 20 July 2020. It will be capable of producing large quantities of blacktop for surfacing the road. [Esther Harper]

Pic 13 - Derrychrier Road underpass has now been buried with rock and earth fill, as seen here on 20 July 2020. At a later date the embankments for the road itself will be built on either side. Much of the rock used on the scheme comes from the huge cutting at Ovil Hill. [Esther Harper]

Pic 14 - Moving now to Dungiven, this is Feeny Road overbridge looking well advanced on 19 July 2020. On the right you can see steel reinforcement being placed for casting one of the wingwalls. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 15 - Same location as pic 14, this is the view west from the "temporary" Feeny Road on 19 July 2020 along what will be the future dual-carriageway. A lot of earthworks are evident here too. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 16 - Lovely aerial shot looking west on 24 July 2020 towards the Magheramore Road overbridge (foreground), the completed deck of the Owenrigh River bridge just beyond it and, in the far distance, the Feeny Road overbridge. Since Teeavan Road was closed in May (see its little surviving stretch clinging on on the right) the remainder of the cutting has now been fully excavated. [Aerial Vision NI]

Pic 17 - Moving a little further east than pic 16, this is the view looking west from above the site of the River Roe bridge. This bridge will pass over the river above tree height, and both abutments are taking shape. The white membrane is designed to reduce run off into rivers. 24 July 2020 [Aerial Vision NI]

Pic 18 - Another view of the River Roe bridge site, this time looking east, on 24 July 2020. The terminus of the scheme is on the upper right. Priory Lane overbridge, the last structure on the scheme, can be seen just before it. [Aerial Vision NI]

Pic 19 - View of the terminus of the scheme at the future Magherabuoy roundabout (large site beore the red houses ahead) and the deck of Priory Lane overbridge under construction. The first layers of blacktop are evident here (this might have been placed to provide access for the crane that will be used to install the bridge beams at the River Roe). No work appears to have happened yet on the new stretch of Priory Lane that will be needed to pass over this bridge. [Aerial Vision NI]

Pic 20 - Our final shot is of Priory Lane overbridge, Dungiven, seen here on 19 July 2020 with work well underway on the bridge deck. [Aerial Vision NI]

22 Jun 2020: Another feast of photos in this update, thanks to our amazing spies and photographers on the ground - Alan Lynas, Polly Lynch, Esther Harper, Turmeel, Paul McCloskey and Aerial Vision NI - as well as the contractor, who updated their web site a week or so ago. As always the commentary is in the photo captions and are arranged in order from west to east. The aerial photos were taken by Aerial Vision NI. Although they date from the end of May they're still very relevant. Remember you can see their great pictures on Facebook or Twitter. It's also worth following Esther Harper who often tweets photos from the area around Ovil. Note also that Google Earth recently updated their imagery of the stretch of the A6 from Drumahoe to Ovil, so that's worth checking out too - you can see the whole stretch as it was on 24 April 2020. We are approaching the half way point of the project, in time terms, with completion due in spring 2022.

Aerial photo of the future Tamnaherin Road junction, between Drumahoe and Burntollet, on 30 May 2020. The route of the new dual-carriageway here is obvious, but the material visible is actually overburden, placed to encourage the soft ground to settle. Piling work is due to begin this month on the bridge that will carry the dual-carriageway over Tamnaherin Road. It will be situated close to where the current road passes through the line of the future road. [Aerial Vision NI]

A piling rig sitting at the site of the future bridge at Tamnaherin Road on 21 June 2020, presumably ready to start work shortly. The tarmac in the left foreground is the former A6, which will eventually be buried under the embankment of the new road. [Polly Lynch]

Same location as the previous aerial shot, but looking east, this was the view towards Burntollet (hidden behind the trees) on 30 May 2020. In the left foreground work is well underway on the Ervey Road link, which will connect Ervey Road to the Tamnaherin Road junction. Drivers are going to get a better view of this in July when all A6 traffic is diverted onto it to allow the construction of The Oaks accommodation bridge, which will pass over the A6 just beyond the pool of water visible in the foreground. [Aerial Vision NI]

This photo of the Ervey Road link was taken on 21 June, three weeks after the aerial shot above, showing how much it has progressed even in that time. This view is also looking east, with the current A6 just visible at the top right. The stretch of gravel going to the right just before the two excavators will lead to the future Oaks accommodation bridge. [Polly Lynch]

Moving now to Burntollet Bridge, this is the view looking back the way we came (north, towards Derry) with the Ervey Road link just visible at the very top of the frame. The abutments for the eastern half of Burntollet bridge were in place when this picture was taken on 30 May 2020. On the left of the shot you can also see the two abutments for the future Ardmore Road bridge also in place. As you can see it will cross the river diagonally, rather than at right angles as the older bridge does. [Aerial Vision NI]

This is a ground-level view of Burntollet Bridge seen looking south (towards Dungiven) on 22 June 2020. The original 1950s bridge is on the right, still carrying the A6, while the two abutments for the eastern half of the new bridge are visible to its left. The sloping white sheets in the centre of the shot are all that remains of the 18th century bridge that was demolished to make way for the new bridge. [Alan Lynas]

On 22 June 2020 a set of four steel beams arrived at Burntollet bridge on lorries like this one. This tells us that the new Burntollet bridge is going to have steel beams, rather than concrete ones, probably due to its length and high skew angle. [Alan Lynas]

This photo was taken looking towards Dungiven at Brackfield Bawn, just east of Burntollet on 14 June 2020. It beautifully illustrates three centuries of development - on the right is the early 19th century road (which itself replaced the 17th/18th century road located nearby), the 20th century (1950s) road with the cars on it, and the works taking place to construct the 21st century dual-carriageway on the left. [@Turmeel]

Moving about 2km further east, this aerial shot of the Killaloo (Gulf Road) junction was taken looking east on 30 May 2020. Work here is not as advanced as the other junctions, with only the south abutment of the future overbridge in place. The approach embankment on the right, and the curve of the future westbound on/off-slip, are also visible. [Aerial Vision NI]

Moving another 2km east, this was the site of the future Baranailt Road junction on 30 May 2020. In the centre of the shot is the future bridge with beams in place and the diaphragm (which joins the beams together to form the deck) being constructed during June. The line of the future road and its sliproads is obvious in the earthworks. From here to Dungiven the new road will run offline, leaving the existing A6 in situ, rather than subsuming it. [Aerial Vision NI]

Gortilea Road overbridge as seen on 30 May 2020. With the bridge deck itself now essentially completed, work is now taking place on backfilling the abutments. It will carry Gortilea Road over the new road, though this will require an approach embankment on the right that has yet to be started. [Aerial Vision NI]

About 1km east of Gortilea Road is Ballyhanedin Road which will also be bridged over the new road. The central pillar is in place (just visible in splendid isolation a couple of hundred metres beyond Ballyhanedin Road), but work has finally started on the abutments, with piling works for the southern abutment due to commence soon. More work seems to be taking place on the future road itself at this point too. There is another bridge, an accommodation bridge, at Munreery about 1km east of this one. We don't have a photo of it, but excavations for the bases of this bridge are apparently now taking place. [Aerial Vision NI]

Close to Foreglen village, this is a view looking east (to Dungiven) of the huge Ovil Hill cutting, the largest cutting on the whole scheme, on 30 May 2020, now completed and with the base layers of the road being formed. In time the bare slopes will return to nature and this will look less scar-like on the landscape. It also provided a huge amount of rock for elsewhere on the scheme, greatly reducing the amount of rock that had to be imported from quarries elsewhere. [Aerial Vision NI]

Reaching Dungiven and looking back west (towards Derry) this is the point where the new road will cross the Owenbeg River. This is the only one of the three river bridge at Dungiven that has not yet started, but piling works are due to commence during June on the east and west abutments. Right now there is a temporary 'bailey' bridge over the river for site traffic. In the distance you can just make out a white line crossing over the future road - this is the Derrychrier Road underpass, now completed. This week Esther Harper went for a drive through it, and uploaded a video here! [Aerial Vision NI]

Same location as the previous photo but turning round 180° and looking east, this is the future Feeny Road junction on 30 May 2020 with works now underway on the diaphragm to hold the bridge beams together. Feeny Road will be diverted over the new bridge in due course. [Aerial Vision NI]

This magnificent aerial shot of Teeavan Road (which until recently ran from top middle to bottom left) and Magheramore Road (middle right to lower left) was taken on 31 May 2020. The diverted Teeavan Road had just been opened, and the contractor lost no time at all in excavating the original Teeavan Road to complete the cutting through this hill. At the very bottom of the shot you can see the Owenrigh River bridge, with its deck completed and backfilling now underway. At the top left you can also see the future River Roe bridge, where work is still ongoing on the two abutments. Close to the bottom of the shot you can see the two abutments and the central pillars of the Magheramore Road overbridge. The 8 beams for this bridge were craned into place overnight on 18/19 June 2020. [Les Ross]

This shot of Magheramore Road junction was taken on 14 June 2020, four days before the beams were placed. You can see the southern abutment in the foreground, with the central pier beyond and the northern abutment beyond that. All traffic is temporarily diverted around the site, visible on the left. [Turmeel]

17 May 2020: We are spoiled for photographs and aerial footage in this update, thanks to various people who are taking photos and allowing me to share them here. You'll also find these folks on Twitter. This month we must thank Alan Lynas, Dee Logue, Polly Lynch, Esther Harper, Paul McCloskey and Sky Photography. I'm going to share 17 photos this time (must be some kind of record), and to make sense of them I'm starting at Derry and working east. I'll include the commentary in the captions.

Pic 1: This shot of the new Park-and-ride facility at Drumahoe on 17 May 2020 shows that kerbing in place and almost ready for tarmac to be laid. This element of the scheme is likely to open in advance of the main dual-carriageway, perhaps sometime this summer. [Dee Logue]

Pic 2: Surcharging in place at Tamnaherin Road junction, between Drumahoe and Burntollet, on 26 April 2020. The future road will run straight ahead here, while all traffic is being diverted to the right. Surcharging is the addition of extra material to speed up the settlement of soft ground. [Polly Lynch]

Pic 3: The 1957 Burntollet Bridge as seen on 16 May 2020. On the left the white sheet covers the remains of the late 18th century "old" bridge which was demolished last summer. The foundations for one of the new abutments for the future bridge is in the centre of shot, with the other abutment being off shot to the left. Due to the fact that the new bridge shares a footprint with the 1957 bridge, the plan is to build the eastbound half of the bridge first, then demolish the 1957 bridge and build the westbound half in its place. [Alan Lynas]

The whole Burntollet area is covered in this amazing aerial movie, released on 7 May 2020. The footage also shows the approaches from either direction. At 3:40 the movie then turns to the nearby Ardmore Road bridge, which will functionally replace the older Oaks Bridge that's also visible, though the older bridge will be retained in this case. There's a good overhead view at 4:30. [Sky Photography]

Pic 4: At the future Claudy junction (Baranailt Road), the beams on the new bridge that will carry the dual-carriageway over the local road were craned into place during the first week of May. The shot above was taken by Paul McCloskey before this happened, on 26 April 2020. There's a great shot of the bridge a week later with the beams in place here. There's also a great aerial movie of this entire junction here, taken by Sky Photography before the beams were put in place, that gives an excellent overview of the site.

Pic 5: This view of Gortilea Road bridge was taken from the existing A6 on 11 May 2020, with Gortilea Road visible in the distance. This bridge will carry this local road over the new dual-carriageway. The beams were put in place last month and the contractor is currently starting the wingwall construction (triangular retaining walls beside the abutments) and backfilling to build the road height up. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 6: The next bridge to the east of Gortilea Road is Ballyhanedin Road bridge, which will carry this local road over the new dual-carriageway. Work here is less advanced - the photograph above shows what looks like the central pillars of the future bridge with the existing A6 on the embankment behind. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 7: Moving now to east of Foreglen village, this picture was taken at the site of the future Killunaught Road bridge, near Ovil Hill on 3 May 2020. At this point the new road will run in a cutting below ground level. This is the view west from Killunaught Road towards Ovil Hill, showing the cutting being excavated. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 8: Same location as above, this is the view east from Killunaught Road looking towards Dungiven on 17 May 2020, showing the foundations of the new dual-carriageway well underway. In the distance is a very large crane. It's hard to see where this is from this view, but it might be at Feeny Road junction which is due to get its beams lifted into place during May. [Esther Harper]

Pic 9: The cutting works at Killunaught Road seem to involve the relocation of a water main as shown in this view taken on 17 May 2020. [Esther Harper]

Pic 10: Also near Ovil, the contractor seems to have been building an on-site batching plant for making asphalt, adjacent to the existing A6, as seen in this shot taken on 10 May 2020. Presumably it's cheaper to build this on site than ship in huge quantities of ready-made asphalt from elsewhere. This implies that we're going to be seeing blacktop being laid in large quantities before too long. [Esther Harper]

Pic 11: This view was taken near Ovil on 17 May 2020 and shows that the planned planting of trees along the new road is already underway [Esther Harper].

Pic 12: This view was also taken near Ovil on 17 May 2020, and shows the foundations of a stretch of the new dual-carriageway well underway, with a drainage ditch to one side. [Esther Harper]

Pic 13: Moving slightly further east, this is the Derrychrier Road underpass largely completed as seen on 7 May 2020. It's not yet open to traffic. The metalwork on the right is the reinforcement for one of the the wingwalls. This structure will eventually be covered with an embankment that will carry the new road. [Esther Harper]

Pic 14: Moving further east again, as we enter the Dungiven Bypass section of the new road, this is site of the future Fenny Road grade-separated junction on 11 May 2020. The central bridge pillars and two abutments were ready for beam installation when this picture was taken, and the lifting work is due to be carried out during May, if it hasn't already happened. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 15: Moving further east again to Magheramore Road, the contractor was diverting Teeavan Road onto its new alignment (shown above on 11 May 2020) this weekend. This will allow the "old" Teeavan Road to be excavated to complete the large cutting that is needed here to accommodate the future dual-carriageway. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 16: Meanwhile, work seems to have finally started on the nearby Magheramore Road bridge which will carry this local road over the new dual-carriageway. The picture above shows the site (with the "old" Teeavan Road bank behind it) on 11 May 2020. Work this month will focus on the foundations for the two abutments and central pillars. [Paul McCloskey]

Pic 17: Finally, this is a telephoto shot towards Priory Lane bridge in Dungiven, near the eastern terminus of the scheme, on 17 May 2020 showing its beams in place, as well as the completed cutting that will lead onto the future Magherabuoy Roundabout on the existing A6. Work is now underway on the diaphragm (which joins the beams together) and deck of the Priory Lane bridge. The vertical rods visible at the lower left are piling works underway for the western abutment of the future River Roe bridge. [Esther Harper]

The Regional Strategic Transport Plan, published in 2004, explained why it was thought that further dualling of the 40km of the A6 beyond Castledawson could not go ahead before 2015:

This lack of funding was rectified suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly in December 2005 by the announcement of sufficient funding for the Dungiven to Derry section. Prophetically, the RSTN did comment that "It is... likely that future dualling in the 2015 to 2025 period will commence at the Londonderry end of the route." This is because traffic levels are highest at the Toome and Derry ends of the A6, and lowest at the Glenshane Pass and because of the difficult terrain crossing the Sperrins. Traffic figures collected in 2004 showed the following daily traffic at various points on the A6:

A typical view of the A6 road in its current form, here seen near Dungiven. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]

Dungiven town centre is the biggest bottleneck on the route, and will get a bypass. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]

Lots more photos of the road are available on the Roads Service web site - see link at the top of this page.