Bachy Soletanche has secured a major contract to install piles for the new Shieldhall Tunnel project in Glasgow.

The work is part of a £100 million project to improve water quality in the River Clyde and its tributaries, whilst also reducing flooding issues at key locations.

The project, which will be carried out by Bachy Soletanche’s Scottish region, will see the company contracted by a joint venture of VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Costain, working on behalf of Scottish Water.

The works will include the construction of cased secant piles (CSP) for the first shaft of the tunnel, the service chamber and tunnel boring machine launch chamber, along with 400 linear metres of CFA contiguous piled walls for the cut and cover section of the tunnel. Piling work on the structure, which will be the largest wastewater storage tunnel in Scotland, is set to commence in June and will last three months. The Shieldhall Tunnel project marks Bachy Soletanche’s first CSP piling project in Scotland since strengthening its offering in the region earlier this year with the appointment of Paul Doyle as contracts manager for Scotland.

Mr Doyle said: “This unique project will provide us with an excellent opportunity to deliver a real impact to the area’s infrastructure. The project will be technically challenging, especially as we will be working within a residential area and in a restricted workspace, however we are confident our wealth of project experience will ensure we deliver exceptional standards throughout the work whilst minimising the impact on the local community.”

Whilst the piling project contracted to Bachy Soletanche is expected be completed in late 2015, work on Shieldhall Tunnel to construct a sewer running between Queen’s Park and Craigton Industrial Estate is expected to continue until late 2017.