Building Briefs – March 29th

Cleveland Bridge UK produces longest steel girder structure in its history for AWPR

Cleveland Bridge has embarked on a project to produce the longest steel bridge girder structures in its 150-year history for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie-Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project.

The seven paired 50-metre bridge girders, which will create the Charleston Junction Underbridge in Aberdeen, are six metres longer than Cleveland Bridge UK’s previous record steel structure.

The first two pairs of girders have been completed and loaded out for the 300-mile journey from Cleveland Bridge UK’s factory in Darlington to the bridge’s location in the North East of Scotland. They will be followed by the remaining five paired girders, which are set to be finished and transported at the beginning of April.

Designed to significantly improve travel in and around Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland, the project is being delivered by Transport Scotland, the national transport agency, on behalf of the Scottish government and in partnership with Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council.

The AWPR Construction Joint Venture, which includes Balfour Beatty, Morrison Construction and Carillion, is the New Works Contractor appointed to design and build the project.

It is one of a series of eight bridge structures Cleveland Bridge UK has been contracted to supply to the project, which, at 58km, is the longest roads construction project currently underway in the UK.

Perth street closed as inside of building collapses

A busy Perth street has been closed after part of a block of flats collapsed.

Emergency services were called to Atholl Street just after 7.30am.

It is understood the internal structure of a block of flats has crumbled.

Council seeks views on extra space at new Bonnyrigg Campus

Midlothian Council is seeking views over how to use extra space at a new joint campus development in the region.

The new Bonnyrigg facility is being built on the former Hopefield site and will accommodate St Mary’s Primary School and provide additional capacity for Burnbrae once completed.

A number of options have been drawn up to use extra space which will be left over once the development is finished.

The first option would see the space used for nursery and primary 1 pupils from Burnbrae, while the second involves accommodating Primary 5, 6 and 7 in the building.

The third option would see a single stream established at Hopefield so pupils would be there from nursery right up until the end of P7. Local people can also suggest their own model of how to use the building.

Residents have until noon on Friday, 31 March to submit their feedback. The gathered information will help inform initial design studies, as well as assist in developing a draft site plan for the proposed building.

To submit feedback, visit here.

Casey Construction to begin Kirkwall redevelopment project

Casey Construction is set to begin redevelopment work at a historic property in Kirkwall.

The contractor will start work on the 19th century Storehouse building in Bridge Street Wynd at the beginning of April.

The B-listed building is being transformed into a ‘restaurant with rooms’ by local husband and wife team Judith Glue and David Spence. Features will include a large internal courtyard restaurant with retail and food and drink production space created on the ground floor and eight luxury rooms for guests on the upper two floors.

The project, which will take 14 months to complete, has been part funded with a grant from the Kirkwall Townscape Heritage Initiative (KTHI).

The Kirkwall THI is aimed at helping to conserve and renew the built heritage of the town’s historic core. It is funded by Historic Environment Scotland, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Orkney Islands Council.

It offers grants for property owners to bring vacant space within the Kirkwall Conservation Area back into use, or to carry out building repairs or restoration of architectural detail.

Since 2014, 31 property grants have been agreed. . £1,616,197 of KTHI grant has been allocated to these projects, involving an additional £1,707656 of private investment, and 14 are completed already – among them works to the West End Hotel, the former John Scott Miller building, and above 3 Bridge Street (Harbour Fry).

The Storehouse project is scheduled for completion in May 2018.

Awards evening raises £30,000 for Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity

Hundreds of the UK’s leading specialist contractors, suppliers and influential companies from across the construction industry have combined to raise £30,000 for construction workers in need.

The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity was chosen as a partner for the 2017 Construction News Specialist Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

The awards ceremony was hosted by comedian Hugh Dennis who entertained the audience of almost 800 guests with his repartee and joined category winners for celebratory photographs. Bids from a silent auction raised £20,000 and table collections raised an additional £10,000. The celebrations went on until the early hours with guests trying their luck at the casino tables, donated by the charity.

The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity provides a 24 x 7 helpline for all construction workers and their families in the UK and Ireland. The helpline provides emergency financial aid to families in crisis, advice on occupational health and mental wellbeing and support on legal, tax and debt management matters.

Every year there are around 40 fatalities on UK construction sites and more than 2,000 major injuries that leave workers incapacitated.

There were more suicides in construction than in any other profession in the first half of this decade and almost half of reported occupational cancer cases relate to workers in this industry.

Since 1956, Lighthouse has raised £16.5m to support more than 15,000 construction workers and their families who have been in need of emergency financial assistance.

Success for Dundee construction industry trainees

A successful programme in Dundee that has secured jobs in the construction industry for young people has just taken on a new group of trainees.

Now in its third year, the construction employability programme gives local youngsters work experience and a guaranteed interview for real employment opportunities in the sector.

Developed by Dundee City Council and public and private sector partners including JobCentre Plus, Kilmac Construction and Advance Construction, similar programmes have already seen more than a dozen candidates who completed the programme secure and retain employment or further training.

This time round, key partners Advance Construction has used its new Livingston training base to deliver a number of courses to the group.

As well as health and safety and first aid training the eight participants have followed courses on plant and vehicle banksman skills, cable avoidance, asbestos awareness, personal safety and conflict management and employability.

The course concludes at the end of April.

Mackie Academy pupils score with Aberdeen bypass project

A new programme which has given pupils from Mackie Academy the opportunity to undertake work experience on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project has been hailed a huge success.

The Goals and Work Experience programme was offered to pupils who are considering leaving school with few or no qualifications, enabling them to swap the classroom for the AWPR/B-T head office in Stonehaven for five consecutive days.

Topics as diverse as personal goals, interview skills, career development in the construction industry, the AWPR/B-T project, the use of technology in construction, design, geology and the environment, were all included in the programme.