Work restarts on the Luton DART after review of how government's COVID-19 guidance was being implemented

Work on the Luton DART restarted yesterday (Monday) following a further review of how the government’s coronavirus construction industry guidance is being implemented by the main contractor.

Last week, the owner of London Luton Airport had ordered a second suspension of works on the Luton DART construction project by the main contractor, until all relevant steps had been taken to rectify concerns relating to implementation of the government’s guidelines on Covid-19.

Together with its clerks of works and health and safety advisers, airport owner London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL) concluded an assessment of VolkerFitzpatrick-Kier’s updated and improved coronavirus action plan and construction phase plan.

Ciaran Scanlon, LLAL Programme Delivery Director, said: “We have only allowed the site to recommence works after a detailed and rigorous assessment of updated protocols provided by the contractor.

"A number of improvements have been identified for implementation on site, all of which will be subject to daily monitoring.

“The health and safety of the workforce on all our sites is our number one priority.

We will keep the situation under review and, should we consider that the contractor is falling short of their obligations to meet developing national Site Operating Procedures laid out by the Construction Leadership Council and Public Health England, we will not hesitate to take whatever action is appropriate.”

The DART construction project will link the Luton Airport to Luton Airport Parkway by a mass passenger transit system.