Building Briefs – September 12th

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has appointed Higher Ground Community Services Ltd to deliver grounds maintenance at Inverness Campus following a European-wide tender.

In the agreement, which will last three years, the Conon Bridge based company will provide landscaping services including gardening and horticulture, repair and maintenance, and snow-clearing.

Inverness Campus is one of Scotland’s most innovative projects. Developed by HIE, the 215-acre campus is a focus for the development of one of the region’s key sectors, life sciences, and has Scottish Government designation as an Enterprise Area for Life Sciences.

The award-winning campus features an outstanding landscaped environment.

The site has been specifically designed to encourage collaboration between business, research and academia, both within the campus and with neighbouring organisations such as LifeScan Scotland, Raigmore Hospital and the Centre for Health Science.

Aberdeen Harbour expansion project sees dredging phase commence

The construction programme supporting the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour into Nigg Bay has passed a significant milestone in the commencement of dredging operations.

The construction project, which commenced in May this year with the development of a north breakwater access road, and the start of work on the north breakwater itself, has progressed well, and the commencement of dredging operations at this time is a major step forward for the project.

The first dredging vessel to arrive is Van Oord’s, Costa Verde, which has commenced work in the bay. Built in 1998, the Spanish-registered vessel is a Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger. The vessel is almost 90 metres in length and has a hopper volume capacity of 2,400 cubic metres. The vessel is scheduled to remove approximately 200,000 cubic metres of material prior to the arrival of a backhoe dredger later in the construction schedule, which will address the denser seabed material.

The dredging operation is designed to increase the water depth within the bay ahead of the construction of quays over the next three years, and the subsequent development of world-class deep-water berthage.

The dredging phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in September 2018 and the construction is due to be completed in 2020.

Affordable home approvals increase by 30% to top 10,600

The number of affordable homes approved over the year to the end June 2017 has increased by 30% on the previous year, bringing the total number of approvals over the year to 10,612.

Official statistics published today also show that between 2015-16 and 2016-17, the number of new house builds started, across the public and private sector, rose by 4% from 17,765 to 18,391, the fourth consecutive annual increase and the highest annual number of starts since 2008-9.

Housing minister Kevin Stewart said today’s figures showed good progress towards delivering the Scottish Government’s ambitious target of delivering 50,000 affordable homes during the lifetime of this Parliament.

Today’s statistics also show that sales of public authority dwellings (including local authorities with total stock transfers) rose by 68% in 2016-17 to 3,510 as the scheme reaches its end.

A marginal decrease in private sector completions compared to 2015-2016 are also shown, however the total number of completions between January and March 2017 increased by 5% compared to the same quarter in 2016.

AWPR - Overnight closure A90 southbound at Stonehaven

The project contractor is planning to close the A90 southbound carriageway from around 11.30pm on September 15 until around 3am on September 16 to allow the essential maintenance of roadside equipment, as part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project.

A short diversion for southbound traffic will be sign-posted. Road users should leave the A90 using the U90K Den of Logie Road turnoff, turn right at the roundabout to join the B979 Netherley Road and then turning left onto the new southbound slip road to re-join the A90.

As part of these works, the northbound carriageway will also be reduced from two lanes to one lane from 8pm on September 15 until 6am on September 16.

Tweedbank masterplan consultation event

Tweedbank residents will get another chance to have their say on the future of the community with the latest masterplan consultation event.

Local people are invited to make their way to Tweedbank Community Centre for the drop-in session anytime between 2pm and 9pm on September 27.

A team of architects will be available to discuss the local needs and opportunities as well as what in the existing townscape should be protected.

As part of the Borders Railway Blueprint programme, two masterplans for Galashiels and Tweedbank are in the process of being created.

These plans will set out a medium to long term strategy for both communities through the allocation of spaces for commercial, retail, residential and community facilities, as well as roads and utilities.

This will allow the Local Development Plan to be updated and encourage investors to understand the opportunities available in both communities.

A first round of consultation events took place in spring this year, with around 200 people attending the Tweedbank session in March.

RSBi sports day scores over £2,300 for local charities

A sports fun day held by Glasgow manufacturing firm RSBi, where more than half of staff have a disability, raised over £2,300 for local charities.

About 350 staff took part in the event, with the funds raised donated to Les Hoey MBE Dream Maker Foundation, which arranges once-in-a-lifetime experiences for children with life-threatening illnesses and the Royston Youth Action group

The sports fun day, held last month, offered activities ranging from football to the sack race via soak the factory manager with a sponge.

RSBi staff formed teams to compete in a mini sports challenge, won by the Assembly team – now better known in the Springburn factory as the A Team. The firm’s sewing team raised the most money from the event.

RSBi, which is operated by City Building Glasgow on behalf of Glasgow City Council, designs and manufactures a wide range of high quality furniture for major construction contracts. More than half of its 260 staff have a disability, including visual and hearing impairments and learning disabilities.

RSBi’s turnover in the last financial year was £27.2m after achieving 8.8% growth.

New projects secured in the past year include several commissions within the student accommodation market, furniture supply to the NHS, Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Fire & Rescue as well as a range of timber kits for various housebuilder clients.

£20m maintenance programme starts at North Ayrshire power station

Work has started on a £20 million maintenance programme at EDF Energy’s Hunterston B power station in North Ayrshire.

One of the two reactors at the power station was taken off line for the works on Friday, 08 September.

The eight-week scheme will see more than 10,000 separate pieces of work carried out, each carefully planned during the last two years of preparation, including inspections of a range of systems including the boilers, electrical systems and the graphite core. biggest projects will include replacing three low pressure turbine rotors and the main generator electrical rotor.

More than 450 extra workers will join the 750 strong workforce for the maintenance period, which is known as a “statutory outage”.

Glasgow flood alleviation scheme complete

Work on a £3.1 million environmental improvement project in Glasgow is now complete.

The scheme aims to tackle sewer flooding in part of the Milton area of the city and help reduce the risk of flooding the Mingulay Crescent and Scaraway Street area.

A total of 32 properties have experienced recurring problems with internal and external flooding for a number of years. To minimise the risk, amey Black & Veatch (aBV) were appointed by Scottish Water to upgrade the local sewer network by increasing its capacity so that it can store more water during times of heavy rainfall. This was done by upsizing the existing sewer pipework and installing new storm overflow pipes.

The work was carried out as part of a £250m, five-year programme of work announced by Scottish Water in February 2013. The initiative will continue to improve river water quality and the natural environment of the River Clyde, enable the Greater Glasgow area to grow and develop, alleviate sewer flooding and deal with the effects of increased rainfall from climate change.

M80 resurfacing project to begin

A £175,000 resurfacing project is set to get underway on the M80 motorway.

Work will take place along a 0.8km stretch of the route between Junction 2 off-slip and on-slip from Friday, 15 September until Sunday, 17 September.

Traffic management will be installed from 8pm each evening of the works until 7am the following morning both the Friday and Saturday periods of overnight working. The Sunday evening works will operate from 8pm until 6am on Monday, 19 September ahead of peak commuter traffic flow.

East Lothian road resurfacing underway

A road resurfacing project is underway near Oldhamstocks in East Lothian.

The Black Castle Road (C121) is being repaired and work is expected to last until Friday, 29 September.

To carry out the work safely, the route is closed from the U215 Branxton Road to the U211 Cocklaw Road.

Energy efficiency workshop to take place in Lerwick

An energy efficiency workshop is scheduled to take place in Lerwick.

The event is an opportunity for contractors across Shetland to find out more about current and future opportunities in the sector as the Scottish Government has designated energy efficiency as an infrastructure priority. The workshop will take place at Shetland College from 4pm – 6pm on Thursday, 14 September.

With a large number of jobs awaiting estimates and also work which needs to be completed by March 2018, the council is inviting contractors to find out more about these opportunities by attending the workshop.