A SENIOR politician says he was ‘blown away’ by the level of engineering skill on display during a visit to the site of the long-awaited Porthmadog bypass.

Elfyn Llwyd, MP for Dwyfor Meirionydd and Plaid Cymru's Westminster group leader, lavished praised on the £35m project after being shown around by Huw Jones of Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK.

Denbighshire-based Jones Bros is building the Porthmadog, Minffordd and Tremadog bypass for the Welsh Government in a 50:50 joint venture partnership with Balfour Beatty.

The 5.3km highway is the largest civil engineering project currently under way in North Wales.
Speaking after his visit, Mr Llwyd said: “The joint venture is doing a fantastic job on the bypass.
“Before my visit I didn’t appreciate how much work had gone into protecting the environment and watercourses.

“The joint venture has also worked closely with the various railway operators affected by the scheme.”

Founded in the 1950s, family-owned Jones Bros has grown to become one of the UK’s leading civil engineering companies.

In addition to its Ruthin headquarters, Jones Bros has regional offices in Swansea, Oxfordshire, Inverness and Linlithgow.

The company employs 270 people in total and is currently working on contracts in various sectors including landfill, highways, flood and marine defence and renewables across the UK.
Mr Llwyd added: “I am a long-standing admirer of Jones Bros – a company which I believe is a credit to North Wales.

“During the company’s work on the flood defences in Tywyn, constituents would often come to my surgeries to thank and praise Jones Bros.

“That’s a measure of the company’s ability to build a rapport with communities.
“I’m sure Jones Bros has a long and prosperous future ahead of it, not just in Wales but across the UK.”

The long-awaited new section of the A487 carriageway will improve journey times, ease congestion and significantly improve environmental conditions by enabling current through traffic to bypass Porthmadog, Tremadog and Minffordd.

Work on the new road is progressing well and the joint venture partnership is confident of completing construction well before the end of the year.