Building Briefs – September 16th

Councillors and invited guests attended the site of the new multi-million pound Clydebank Leisure Centre to celebrate the next stage in the project’s development.

A topping out ceremony was held to mark the completion of structural work at the new facility, which is being built on the Queens’s Quay site.

Once completed, the £23.8 million state-of-the-art care facility will include a 25-metre swimming pool, teaching pool, leisure pool with waves and flume; changing facilities, a café, multi-purpose sports hall with badminton, netball, basketball, hockey and five-a-side football courts and retractable seating, fitness suite, and dance studio.

The leisure centre is being delivered by hub West Scotland, main contractor BAM and architects Kennedy Fitzgerald.

Council leader visits Aberdeen’s £27m Materials Recycling Facility

Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing paid a visit to see progress on the construction of a facility that will help Aberdonians to reduce their impact on the environment.

The £27 million facility is being developed by SUEZ recycling and recovery on behalf of Aberdeen City Council. It will eventually divert 71,000 tonnes of Aberdeen’s waste from landfill every year, helping the city to meet Scottish Government recycling and recovery targets and save residents £5m in landfill tax per year when it begins operations in summer 2017.

The new centre will comprise a Materials Recycling Facility where mixed recyclables, collected from homes and businesses, will be sorted before being forwarded on for re-processing; a Refuse Derived Fuel Facility that will process residual waste – the waste materials that remain once all viable attempts to recycle them have taken place – to extract metals. The remaining material will then be securely baled prior to onward transfer out of the area, where it will be diverted from landfill and put to better use in the recovery of energy.

The development represents an investment of approximately £27m in Aberdeen and has employed up to 65 people during construction. A further 40 new, permanent jobs will be created when operations begin in the summer of 2017.

The site will also include a replacement vehicle depot for the council’s waste collection fleet, which is currently located on Powis Terrace and shared office space for both SUEZ and Aberdeen City Council.

Construction started in January and despite initial ground works being hampered by ‘Storm Frank,’ the project will complete on schedule in the summer of 2017.

The project is being managed on behalf of SUEZ, by its principle contractor, Morrison Construction. Morrison’s sub-contractors and supply chain, which includes structural engineers, mechanical and electrical services and steelwork fabricators are all based in Scotland with 15 of its 18 contractors all based in the North East region, ensuring that the majority of civil and building work is undertaken by local firms.

The new facility will also have an Energy Efficiency ‘A rating’ and a number of energy efficient techniques have been incorporated into its design, including solar panels on the building roof. Energy will also be recovered through site processing operations to provide renewable heat and power to the three storey site offices. Energy efficient LED lights will be used throughout the site and SUEZ has been working with the manufacturers of its processing equipment to reduce its power demand.

With construction of the site buildings nearing completion, work will begin in October on the installation of the equipment that will process the city’s waste and recycling. This will take around 16 weeks to complete after which there will be a period of commissioning to calibrate the plant and to ensure it is working correctly. Once testing is complete, SUEZ will fully take over the operation of the new facility in the summer of 2017.

Following consultation with local residents on the plans for the development in 2015, all construction traffic to and from the site is routed through the Altens East industrial estate, avoiding the Coast Road and residential areas. These arrangements will remain in place once operations begin in 2017.

Wills Bros secures tender for £3.5m flood protection scheme

Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd has secured the tender to deliver a £3.5 million flood protection scheme (FPS) in Aberdeenshire.

Ground work on the Huntly FPS could start in October and the scheme is estimated to take up to a year to complete.

Features include delivering new embankments in the Meadows area and adjacent to the A920 at the Ittingstone Burn, as well as new culverts, piling, and various utility diversions. In addition, a new walkway will be created along some of the embankments.

The project has been designed to reduce the risk of flooding to residential, agricultural, community and business properties along the River Deveron, the Ittingstone Burn and the Meadow Burn.

It features a number of individual projects, including creating storage for flood water to the west of the Meadows estate by constricting the flow in the Meadow Burn.

A Public Hearing was held in Huntly to consider outstanding objections to the scheme from landowners. However, a Scottish Government Reporter recommended the council progress its plans without modification following the hearing.

Kier Construction Scotland scoops health and safety gold

Kier Construction Scotland has been awarded a top industry accolade for its health and safety credentials by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Kier was presented with a prestigious Gold Award at the RoSPA’s Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2016 at the Hilton Glasgow hotel on Thursday 15 September.

The RoSPA scheme is the largest and longest running of its kind in the UK and this award is the sixth consecutive year that Kier’s Scottish business has been recognised for its commitment to accident and ill-health prevention.

This award comes as Kier Construction Scotland announced that from June 2015 to date, it has exceeded an impressive three million man hours without a RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) incident. This major achievement highlights the importance that Kier places on health and safety.

CR Contracting wins £15,000 River Dee repair deal

CR Contracting has won a £15,000 contract to carry out repair work around the River Dee in Aberdeenshire.

The contractor will repair damage to the riverside in Ballater caused by Storm Frank during winter last year.

Around 40 metres of damaged bund along the riverside will be reinstate, while armour stone will be placed at the toe of the embankment. Earthworks will be done to reinstate the embankment to its existing profile and erosion control material installed.

In addition, existing one-tonne sandbags will be removed on Salisbury Road.

Work is expected to begin on 21 September, with riverside works finished by 17 October. Project completion is scheduled for 07 November.

Scotland TranServ to begin £120,000 roads maintenance project

Scotland TranServ is to begin a £120,000 roads maintenance project in South Lanarkshire.

The company will start resurfacing one kilometre of the northbound A725 carriageway between Main Street and Glasgow Road located adjacent to Blantyre on Tuesday, 27 September.

For safety reasons, overnight closures will take place on the project route from 8pm – 6am until Friday, 30 September. Diversions will be in place.

Work to begin on new AWPR/B-T roundabout

Work is to begin on building a new roundabout as part of the £745 million Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project.

In order to build the new Dykeside Roundabout junction, the C89C Chapel of Stoneywood to Fairley Road will be closed from Friday, 16 September.

The road will reopen at 6am on Monday, 19 September.

The AWPR/B-T project is being built by Aberdeen Roads Partnership, a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Galliford Try. The scheme is due to be completed in late-2017.

Affordable housing officially opened in Banff

An affordable housing development was opened in Banff this week by Aberdeenshire Provost Hamish Vernal as part of the Banff Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARs).

The redevelopment of the gap site at Carmelite Street has been key in the wider regeneration of Banff town centre.

A partnership approach initiated through the CARs scheme secured the site which had lain derelict for around 25 years.

Three one-bedroom flats have now been successfully built which will provide much needed affordable rented housing in Banff.

The site is within the conservation area of Banff presented a number of challenges including ownership, conservation implications, as well as remediation and construction costs.

Approval was given by the Banff and Buchan Area Committee in January 2013 to proceed with the proposals which also formed part of phase 5 of Aberdeenshire Council’s New Build Programme. This contract was awarded to Ken Barbour and work was completed earlier this year.

The £500k development in Carmelite Street was supported and funded by regeneration funding, Aberdeenshire Council Housing Service, developer obligations, and the Scottish Government.

Pupil wins competition to name new Mactaggart & Mickel development

A Howwood Primary School pupil has beaten-off tough competition from his classmates to win a Mactaggart & Mickel Homes’ ‘name the development’ contest.

The housebuilder challenged the pupils to come up with a suitable name for its new Howwood development and outline the reasons for their choice. The competition attracted over 100 entries.

Robbie Meikle (aged 10 from Primary 4/5 composite class) was selected for his entry, ‘Midton Fields’, which was inspired by the fact that he felt the site looked as though it was “in the middle of a field just off Midton Road”.

Work on the development, which is Mactaggart & Mickel Homes’ first site in the area, began in June on the eastern edge of the village. Once complete, it will consist of a mix of 47 three to five-bedroom semi-detached and detached homes, which are scheduled to be launched in January 2017.

Public exhibition for Easter Langlee Waste Transfer Station plans

Plans for a Waste Transfer Station at Easter Langlee near Galashiels will go on display to the public on Thursday 29 September.

The proposed design of the facility will be available to view from 3pm to 8pm in the Blue Room at Langlee Community Centre, with members of the public able to provide feedback and ask any questions about the project.

The consultation event is part of the pre-planning notification process for the waste transfer station, which is required before a planning application for any large development can be made.

Councillors decided in August last year to close Easter Langlee landfill site when it reached its capacity, which is expected to happen in 2018.

Scottish Borders Council has since been developing plans for a new waste transfer station at the same site. This will enable onward transfer of waste for treatment once the landfill is closed.

Green home owner invites Dunbartonshire neighbours to look through the keyhole

The ‘Green Designs’ open doors series will reach Alexandria this weekend when homeowners Mary and Ian Sweetland invite local residents to look through the keyhole at their green home.

The events showcase properties on the Green Homes Network, managed by the Energy Saving Trust, and allow visitors to look around, chat to the owner about their experiences, and get specialist advice about energy efficiency and renewable technology for their own property from Home Energy Scotland.

The homes taking part across Scotland this year include sustainable new builds, unique eco-homes and historic properties that have been modernised with green technology.

The Sweetlands’ aspirational architect-designed home built to Passive House standards definitely has the ‘wow factor’.

The property will be open to visitors on 17 September 2016 from 10am to 3pm. For more information or to find details on other events visit www.greenhomesopendays.org.uk.