Dry stone walls a winner?

A £10 MILLION project to restore miles of historic dry stone walls throughout Oldham has been nominated for a building industry “Oscar”.

The programme — part of a £22 million borough-wide highways scheme — is in line for a prize at the Institution of Civil Engineers North-West Awards.

The hilly geography of Oldham means roads are built through steep sided valleys and hills, usually supported by dry stone retaining walls for safety.

The new walls replace some hundreds of years old, which protected key highways from collapses. The 40 projects will keep roads safe and reliably open for the foreseeable future.