Building Briefs – February 17th

D J Laing Contracts secures Persimmon Homes deal

D J Laing Contracts has won the contract to carry out all ground works at a new housing development, Muirlands Park in Arbroath.

The work on Phase 1 will commence at the end of February/start of March 2017, and will provide 147 new private and affordable homes. Phase 2 will provide another 140 new homes to the area.

D J Laing has previously worked with Persimmon Homes on its Scholars Brae and Hillside Park developments in Dundee.

This latest development is estimated to take four years and provide a total of 287 new homes in Arbroath, Angus.

Major progress on Haudagain Improvement scheme

Work to tackle the traffic bottleneck at Haudagain moved closer today as Transport Scotland published Made Orders for the Haudagain Improvement scheme.

Transport minister Humza Yousaf said: “For years drivers in the north east have endured tailbacks and delays at the A90 / A96 Haudagain roundabout. We have been unwavering in our commitment to improve traffic at the Haudagain roundabout to provide much needed relief to drivers and communities in the area and find a solution to this longstanding bottleneck.

“Following completion of the necessary preparatory work, we are now publishing the Made Orders for the scheme.

“We have said all along that we want to be ready to hit the ground running and start work at Haudagain once the AWPR is complete, currently scheduled to open in winter 2017/18, and today’s announcement means we remain on target to do this.”

Following a review of all the objections received to the A90 / A96 Haudagain Improvement, the Scottish Ministers decided that Transport Scotland could go ahead with completing the statutory processes for the scheme.

Aberdeenshire Council officials raise new Aberdeen FC stadium concerns

Officials at Aberdeenshire Council have raised concerns over the impact of Aberdeen FC’s proposed new stadium.

The stadium and training facilities would be built at Kingsford, close to the Aberdeen bypass, near Westhill.

Although the planning application is a matter for Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire is a statutory consultee.

A report to councillors next week says there are a number of issues which have not been fully addressed.

However, it says the stadium development could bring significant benefits to the area.

The ground would have a capacity of 20,000. The club believes the new stadium is vital if it is to achieve a sustainable future.

There has been some local protest to the plans.

Housing association afternoon tea winners revealed by CGC

City Gate Construction (CGC) has revealed the winners of its hugely successful ‘Afternoon Tea with CGC’ initiative for housing associations as the firm poured extra money into the idea after an “overwhelming” response.

CGC said its scheme to help housing providers had to be extended because of the number of entries.

Instead of just six winners which was the original plan there were a total of fifteen winners and runners-up.

Each winner will next week receive £200 to fund an afternoon tea while the runners up will get £100 each.

The aim of the initiative is to help housing providers fight loneliness and isolation among older and vulnerable tenants by receiving money to pay for afternoon teas as a way of bringing people together.

‘Afternoon Tea with CGC’ reflects CGC’s commitment to communities and its long-standing promise to help others.

Managing director Leo Reilly said the ideas which flowed in from housing providers were so good it would have been “impossible” not to extend the funding to finance as many as possible.

Now the winners and runners up will also be sent pop-up cake stands to give the forthcoming afternoon teas an authentic feel.

The full list of winners and runners-up is:

River Clyde Homes, Glencairn Court Sheltered housing, Govanhill Housing Association, Bellsmyre Housing Association, Cordale Housing Association, Bridgewater Housing Association, Thenue Housing, Paisley South, Fife Housing Group, Abbeyfield Housing, Cassiltoun Housing Association, Ferguslie Park Housing (Tannahill Centre), Almond Housing, Maryhill Housing, Barrhead Housing (Main Street sheltered housing).

Train disruption after Anderston Station roof fall

Officials are investigating after part of the roof at a Glasgow railway station collapsed.

Train services through Anderston Station were halted after the damage was discovered in the early hours of Thursday.

ScotRail said staff had arrived in the morning to find a section of the roof had “come away” above platform one.

The company later said that services were now running normally through the station.

Aberdeen’s Rob Roy Bridge to reopen next week

The £530,000 reconstruction work to the historic Rob Roy Bridge at Peterculter is to finish on Tuesday.

Aberdeen City Council announced that the traffic management will be getting removed on Tuesday and the bridge will be fully open by the evening.

The work was required to be carried out to the 19th century structure to safeguard its future structural stability.

The original masonry arch is circa 1800 and the arch beam/column north section is circa 1920. The works involved the demolition of the reinforced concrete section of the bridge, which was rebuilt to modern standards.

Motorists are asked to be patient between now and Tuesday as the site is being demobilised, and some traffic delay will be necessary.

The works to the bridge were coordinated to take place at the same time along with the programme of works for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route to keep disruption to the travelling public to a minimum.

VIDEO - Watch the construction of Dundee’s £80m V&A Museum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYwlgd_-LdA

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma features in a new film about the massive construction project being undertaken to erect Dundee’s V&A Museum.

The building is at the heart of the city’s £1 billion waterfront regeneration project.

The project, which has already helped Dundee with official “City of Design” status from Unesco, was credited last year with the city being named as one of the top 10 hippest places to live in Britain.

In the video, which explains how the museum is being built, Mike Galloway, executive director of Dundee City Council, said: “What excites me in particular about the V&A Musuem of Design is the way that cutting edge contemporary architecture is being fully embraced by the whole of the city.

“I don’t think we would have been able to build this building ten years ago, given the nature of its design.”

Carnoustie Library to undergo major facelift

Carnoustie Library is having a makeover to make it more modern and more accessible than ever to all ages in the community.

The new, flexible community space will provide excellent library facilities as well as ACCESS services, making it a one-stop community resource and information centre.

The library will close on Monday 6 March to allow the work to begin.

Youngsters learn construction skills at Marischal College event

Around 60 pupils from Secondary schools across the city took part in a special learning event at Marischal College yesterday teaching them about future career pathways in the construction industry.

The Scottish Contractors Group Skills Event run jointly by Aberdeen City Council and Morgan Sindall allowed the pupils to engage with new technologies such as virtual reality headsets for construction modules.

The group also visited the new Mariscal Square development to see new construction techniques for themselves.

Montrose Recycling Centre upgrade

Work to extend and upgrade Montrose Recycling Centre will begin later this month.

Improvements are being made as part of a redesign of Angus recycling centre services aimed at achieving around £250,000 in savings.

To allow the work to take place and the site to be cleared, Montrose Recycling Centre will close from Monday 27 February for 12 weeks.