Building Briefs – April 13th

Dundee City Council picks up top award for external insulation works

A popular scheme that cuts fuel bills, improves energy efficiency and the local environment has scooped a national award.

Dundee City Council, working with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and contractors Turner Housing and Energy and suppliers Alsecco UK picked up the insulation and fabric installer of the year at the recent energy efficiency and retrofit awards.

Over the past two years external insulation has been successfully installed at more than 600 homes at Lawton, Graham Street, Arklay Street, Hilltown and Clepington Road areas where residents are reporting reductions in their energy bills.

Several thousand pounds of work is carried out to each block and paid for by money from the Scottish Government and SSE at no cost to the tenant or homeowner.

Council evacuates dangerous Helensburgh building

Argyll and Bute Council had to evacuate a dangerous three-storey tenement block on Helensburgh’s East Clyde Street yesterday in order to protect public safety.

Local authorities have powers to protect the public from any building which is determined to be an imminent danger to public safety.

Angus Gilmour, head of planning and regulatory services, said: “We are taking immediate action to ensure public safety. We will take any action needed to keep people safe in and around dangerous buildings.

“We have now moved occupants safely from the building and, through our housing team, in consultation with registered social landlords, will arrange alternative accommodation.

“The road will remain closed to allow a structural survey to be commissioned to determine exactly what work is needed to bring the building back up to a safe, liveable standard.

“As always in these cases we will make every effort to ensure that the property owners fulfil their responsibilities to carry out the necessary repairs.

“We appreciate that this is a difficult situation particularly for the residents of the building but also for local road users and would like to thank them for their patience and understanding while we work to make the building safe.”

More detail will follow after the structural survey.

State-of-the-art machine arrives for Scotland’s biggest waste water tunnel

The front sections of a giant, state-of-the-art Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) have arrived in Glasgow ahead of the construction phase of Scottish Water’s £100 million project to build the biggest waste water tunnel in Scotland.

The 360 tonnes front sections of the TBM, built in Germany, were transported by sea to Rosyth and were brought by lorries under police escort along the M8 in central Glasgow to the project site at Craigton in the south west of the city.

The TBM, whose remaining parts are being delivered and assembled in the next few weeks before starting the construction of the Shieldhall Tunnel in the summer, will weigh 1000 tonnes and be 180 metres long. The tunnel will follow a 3.1 mile-long route between Craigton and Queen’s Park.

It is a key part of Scottish Water’s £250m, five-year programme of work, launched in 2013, to improve river water quality and the natural environment and tackle flooding - the biggest investment in the Greater Glasgow area’s waste water infrastructure in more than a century.

Preparatory work for the tunnel is progressing and, following the start of the actual tunnelling in the summer, the construction phase is expected to take more than a year to complete.

The team involved in the Shieldhall Tunnel for Scottish Water, known as the Glasgow Tunnel Partnership, is a commercial joint venture between Costain and VINCI Construction Grands Projets called CVJV.

Costain and VINCI have been involved in some of the world’s major projects, including the Channel Tunnel.

Scottish PRS rent rises ‘among the highest in Britain’

New tenants renting from private landlords in Scotland have been faced with the highest percentage rental increases in Britain outside London, according to a new survey.

The latest figures from the HomeLet Rental Index reveal that rents on new tenancies signed on a UK rental property outside of London over the three months to March 2016 were, on average, 4.9 per cent higher than in the same period of last year.

The figure in Greater London was 7.7 per cent higher than a year ago, although Scotland wasn’t far behind with an increase of 7.3 per cent in the same period, just ahead of the East Midlands with 6.8 per cent.

HomeLet’s research shows that rents continue to rise significantly ahead of inflation, with demand for property remaining strong.

RP Adam completes £400,000 transformation of Selkirk Factory

Cleaning and detergent manufacturer RP Adam Ltd (Arpal Group) has completed a £400,000 overhaul of its UK headquarters at Selkirk in the Scottish Borders.

Central to the investment programme is a major expansion and reconfiguration of the factory and warehouse facilities, resulting in a 40 per-cent increase in storage capacity at the Selkirk site, in line with increased business growth.

A new gas boiler system costing more than £160,000 has also allowed RP Adam to convert its heating from oil to gas, bringing improved environmental and cost savings benefits including a 29 per-cent reduction in the factory’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Aberdeen Bypass beams set for delivery

The Kepplestone Overbridge, part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie-Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project, is scheduled to take delivery of eight 25m long beams this weekend.

The beams will be delivered on special abnormal load trucks, which will carry one beam each, planned for Sunday 17 April.

The trucks will travel north on the A90 and exit onto Wellington Road before entering onto West Tullos Road. They will then turn right onto Great Southern Road and left onto Riverside Drive, before turning left onto Holburn Street. The loads will then travel right onto the A90 at the Bridge of Dee and continue across Anderson Drive before turning left on the A96 at the Haudagain Roundabout. They will then continue onto Inverurie Road before turning onto an unclassified road, signed Forrit Brae. The trucks will continue on Fairley Road to the site.

The deliveries will be transported during daylight for safety reasons, between approximately 7am and 3.30pm.

Mull firm wins multi-million pound wind farm support contract

A Mull-based marine services firm has won a multi-million contract to help a Danish energy giant develop a wind farm off eastern England.

Inverlussa Marine Services has been appointed by Dong Energy to provide sea support during the construction phase of the Race Bank wind farm around 17 miles off the North Norfolk coast.

The privately owned firm will supply services such as dive support and ship food and spares under the 2.5 year contract.