Building Briefs – February 16th

The phased reintroduction of heavy goods vehicles to the Forth Road Bridge is continuing and the hours during which HGVs can cross the bridge are being extended.

The bridge will now open to HGVs from eleven o’clock at night to five thirty in the morning, increasing the number of journeys that can be made by hauliers during an extra hour and a half.

The new hours were successfully trialled yesterday morning and the structural monitoring installed on the bridge confirmed that the loads were within acceptable ranges.

Perthshire biomass site bought for £2.5m

Alpha Real Trust has struck a deal to acquire a development site in Perthshire where a biomass power plant will be sited.

The trust has entered into a 40-year, long leasehold interest with full planning consent and secure grid connection for the installation of a wood-fired combined heat and power plant at Killin.

Its £2.45 million purchase was funded from existing cash reserves.

Glenrothes sports pavilion vision comes to life

It’s full steam ahead for a new sports pavilion at Over Stenton Park in Glenrothes now that a full funding package has been secured and plans are progressing.

Executive Committee member Cllr Mark Hood recently visited the Glenrothes Strollers Community Football Club to hear about the progress made since being awarded £300,000 as a one off investment towards their project from the Council’s 2014/15 budget.

Funding of £43,000 was also awarded from the Glenrothes area local community planning budget.

The project has also been awarded funding from the Robertson Trust, the Gannochy Trust, the Scottish Football Partnership and from club fundraising, which has included fantastic support from several very generous local businesses.

West Coast Mainline to reopen next week

The West Coast Mainline is due to reopen next week, the ScotRail Alliance has announced.

The route was originally closed at the start of the year as the Lamington Viaduct was damaged by floods caused by Storm Frank.

Train services will resume running on Monday, 22 February.

Works to repair and reopen the Victorian-built viaduct have been taking place over the past seven weeks.

The structure had to be stabilised after the storm, which also damaged the second pier’s steel bearings.

Engineers have now installed new steel bearings on the viaduct’s damaged second pier and developed a new concrete plinth on the top of the pier over the weekend.

Having successfully raised the bridge-deck back into position last week, the recovery works are now progressing two weeks ahead of the original reopening date in March.