{"id":526176,"date":"2025-08-04T12:36:42","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T11:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=526176"},"modified":"2025-08-04T12:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T11:58:12","slug":"mod-removes-unexploded-devices-at-80m-willmott-dixon-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/buildings\/mod-removes-unexploded-devices-at-80m-willmott-dixon-site-04-08-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexploded devices cause partial halt at \u00a380m Willmott Dixon site"},"content":{"rendered":"

An under-construction \u00a380m college campus in South Wales has been evacuated and work partially halted after contractors discovered unexploded ordnance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two devices were found in separate incidents at a site in Cheapside, Bridgend, where a 13,000 square metre campus is being built for Bridgend College.<\/span><\/p>\n

Willmott Dixon<\/span><\/a> is the main contractor on the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bridgend County Council said the Ministry of Defence removed the first device before a second one was found and had to be taken away last Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second device was \u201clikely a mortar shell\u201d, a Willmott Dixon spokesperson told\u00a0Construction News,\u00a0<\/em>adding that it was found during a reduced-level dig adjacent to the main site.<\/span><\/p>\n

The building site plus Aldi, Asda, Brackla House, Energie Fitness and the Brackla Street shopping centre were all evacuated \u201cas a precaution\u201d, South Wales Police said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brackla Street was also temporarily closed but has since reopened.<\/span><\/p>\n

A council spokesperson said: \u201cDuring the incident, all efforts were made to keep inconvenience to a minimum, and we are grateful to local residents, businesses, property owners and shoppers for their patience and understanding while the situation was resolved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The council said it understood work had resumed on site and that a survey has been organised to check for further unexploded devices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Willmott Dixon spokesperson said work has “halted” in the part of the site where the mortar shell had been found, “until a revised UXO [unexploded ordnance] risk assessment and methodology is produced”.<\/p>\n

The campus job is part of the wider regeneration of Bridgend town centre over the next 10 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Work to demolish Brackla Street car park to make way for the new college campus started last autumn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Willmott Dixon previously said it expected the project to complete in summer 2026. The development will include a 200-seat theatre, hair and beauty salons, recording and dance studios, and design workshops.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bridgend College has been contacted for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An under-construction \u00a380m college campus in South Wales has been evacuated and work partially halted after contractors discovered unexploded ordnance. Two devices were found in separate incidents at a site in Cheapside, Bridgend, where a 13,000 square metre campus is being built for Bridgend College. Willmott Dixon is the main contractor on the job. Bridgend …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29901,"featured_media":359419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[547,581,546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-526176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buildings","category-health-and-safety","category-willmott-dixon"],"yoast_head":"\nUnexploded devices cause partial halt at \u00a380m Willmott Dixon site | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An under-construction \u00a380m college campus in South Wales has been evacuated and work partially halted after contractors discovered unexploded ordnance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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