Building Briefs – October 4th

Balfour Beatty builds ‘Bridges to Schools’ in Perth

Last week, Balfour Beatty and Perth and Kinross Council, led students at local schools in Perth in a three day practical exercise to build and test scale models of a 15 metre cable-stayed bridge, provided by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) regional education team.

The popular year-round event, ‘Bridges to Schools’, aims to promote the benefits of careers in civil engineering and the positive impact the profession has on society.

Over 189 pupils across three local schools, Perth Grammar, St John’s RC Academy and Ruthvenfield Primary School, participated in the event, learning about the importance of safe working practices and collaboration as well as the engineering properties involved in building a bridge including; counter weights, towers in compression and cables in tension.

Balfour Beatty is currently undertaking works to the Perth Transport Futures project on behalf of Perth and Kinross Council. Through the Scape Procure framework, Balfour Beatty continues to drive further community and economic benefit through initiatives such as ‘Bridges to Schools’.

Full STEM ahead for Scottish School pupils

Pupils at schools across Scotland are set to learn all about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), thanks to Esh Border Construction.

The Livingston-based firm’s Added Value team is delivering a range of interactive tools and props, known as STEM kits, to the school with the aim of positively shaping career aspirations from an early age.

Youngsters will now use the kits, which are based around STEM topics, to learn about the subjects in a series of workshops designed to educate and inspire the designers, builders and engineers of tomorrow.

Each kit includes construction-related books, toys and materials which support four student exercises: wall building, using ratios, measuring, and designing a structure.

A number of schools are set to receive the kits over the next academic year.

Plans unveiled to increase social housing on Arran

Action is underway to address Arran’s housing issues after a new report revealed the island is the second-most difficult place in the UK after London to access affordable housing.

North Ayrshire Council has joined forces with Arran Economic Group to develop proposals to tackle the problem head on.

One of the major issues facing the island’s residents is the lack of social housing – there are currently no council houses on Arran but that will change with a commitment from North Ayrshire Council to build 26 new homes in Arran’s main town Brodick.

These new properties will form part of a wider masterplan to build 1,000 new council homes across North Ayrshire Council within the next five years.

The ambitious programme has been announced following a report from the Arran Economic Group which shows that across the UK, Arran is second only to London in terms of difficulty in accessing affordable housing in the UK.

The study shows that Arran’s housing affordability ratio (based on an average salary of £24k) is ranked as 8.2 while London stands at 10.4. The average figure for the UK is 5.3 while the average in Scotland is 3.3.

There are approximately 2,100 households on Arran, yet only about 16% (342) are social housing properties, operated by Trust Housing Association. The majority of properties on the island are privately owned with 22% of these classed as second homes – meaning a lack of affordable housing is available.

The plan has the backing of Arran Economic Group, whose study illustrated the urgent need for more affordable housing on the island.

(Full story… )

Plans lodged for Inverness primary school extension

Plans have been lodged for an expansion and refurbishment of an Inverness primary school to ease the pressure that critics claim is being caused by new housing.

The £4 million project at Smithton Primary will create 13 new classrooms and two general purpose rooms, as well as a multi-use games area (Muga) and parking spaces.

The application for the work was lodged this week.

Temporary classrooms being installed at five Inverness primaries – including Smithton – because of roll pressures, while there are early plans to build a new Gaelic school at Inverness Royal Academy.

Hundreds of new houses are being built in the Smithton and Culloden area, including at the £500 million Stratton development.

Peebles homes protected by flood grant funding

Almost 40 homes and businesses in Peebles which were badly affected by flooding during Storm Frank have received additional protection thanks to a scheme facilitated by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and funded through the Scottish Government.

Properties in the Tweed Green, Tweed Avenue and Walkershaugh area of the town were damaged by Storm Frank in December 2015, with a number of residents forced to leave their homes for up to six months.

As a result, the Scottish Government provided £2.4m to SBC to deal with the aftermath of the winter floods of 2015/16, which affected numerous communities across the Borders.

From this funding, the council created the Peebles Property Level Protection Scheme (PLVP) which has now resulted in 37 homes affected by Storm Frank receiving flood doors or barriers, self-closing airbricks, sump pumps and non-return values.

The £280,000 scheme means these properties now have increased resilience to future flooding.

The scheme is an interim measure, with the council currently undertaking a flood study for Peebles, Innerleithen and Broughton as detailed in the Tweed Local Flood Risk Management Plan (LFRMP) 2016-2022.

The study will assess the flood risk and develop options to manage flooding in each community.

It is hoped that the outputs from this study will allow for appropriate actions to be taken forward into the next Tweed LFRMP 2022–2028, with a view to reducing flood risk in each area in the longer term.

(Full story… )

Survey launched on future of Union Chain Bridge

Members of the public are being invited to give their views on the Union Chain Bridge as part of ambitious plans to safeguard its future.

Scottish Borders Council (SBC), Northumberland County Council (NCC) and community group Friends of the Union Chain Bridge are jointly working on a £7.8 million project to secure its status, including a bid for funding from the Heritage Lottery, ahead of its 200th anniversary in 2020.

Built by Captain Samuel Brown in 1820, it is currently the oldest operational suspension bridge in the world still carrying vehicles, and through securing Heritage Lottery funding it is hoped the bridge can also deliver numerous cultural, heritage and community benefits.

To assist with developing the Heritage Lottery bid, the project team is now asking members of the public to give their views on what they would like the Union Chain Bridge to offer in future years as a visitor attraction, including events and educational activities.

Both SBC and NCC have committed £1m each to the Union Chain Bridge project.

The survey is available at www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PUBLIC/ and closes on November 3.

Praise for B876 Killimster Moss road refurbishment

Caithness civic leader Councillor Willie Mackay has welcomed the reopening of the B876 Killimster Moss Road.

A stretch of the Caithness Wick to Thurso road at Killimster Moss was refurbished over a four week programme of improvement and reopened on September 29.

This in-house project by The Highland Council saw development and infrastructure staff design the road refurbishment and Community Services staff carry out the works.