Building Briefs – June 17th

Pupils lend a helping hand to finish structure at Glasgow college

St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow recently celebrated the completion of the structure at its new Sports Complex with a ‘topping out’ ceremony organised by main contractor CBC.

Head Master John Browne was ably assisted by two pupils to install the final screw in the structure. Samuel Craig of Primary 4, who was the overall winner of the CBC Safety Poster Competition, was joined by former Hockey Captain Charlotte Ross in helping Mr Brown fix the screw in place and officially complete the striking structure in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.

Samuel’s colourful poster will now adorn the site hoardings, alongside those designed by the three runners up Anastacia Conley (P4), Anna Brown (P4), Joseph Hesketh (P3) for the remainder of the Project which is due for completion in the Autumn.

The £7.5 million facility, located in Dalhousie Street in the Garnethill area of Glasgow, will offer a new multi-purpose four-court sports hall which can be utilised for volleyball, basketball, netball, and five-a-side football. The centre will also provide a dance studio, fitness suite, associated changing facilities, a reception area and a cafe space.

The new on-campus complex will offer a host of benefits for the pupils, parents and staff of the College and will reduce travel times to the existing sports facilities located in various locations around the city.

The new facility is being constructed on the existing playground and backcourt area adjacent to the main college building and will be linked via a single storey annexe. The building has been designed to complement its surroundings, which include the prestigious Mackintosh Building and the new Reid Building which form part of the Glasgow School of Art, and will be constructed within a rectangular build of bronze aluminium, brickwork and glass.

North East Scotland College reveals £65m revamp concerns

Work to push forward a £65 million revamp of North East Scotland College cannot go ahead without Scottish Government help, its principal has said.

Rob Wallen said the downturn in the oil and gas industry had had a negative effect on finances.

The college is hoping for assistance from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

A Scottish Government spokesman said decisions around capital support for individual institutions were a matter for the SFC.

Mr Wallen insisted the college had not been irresponsible by spending its cash reserves.

North East Scotland Colleges has bases throughout Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

Work on Aberdeen bypass halted due to muddy water threat

Work on the Aberdeen bypass has been halted for seven days after heavy rain caused muddy water to run off the construction site.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is carrying out an investigation into potential pollution in watercourses along the route.

Transport Scotland said contractors had spent three days trying to mitigate excess water flowing from the site.

The bypass is due to completed by winter 2017.

SEPA said there were concerns that pollution flowing into tributaries of the Dee and Don could affect salmon and freshwater pearl mussels.

Dump Truck manufacturer Terex announces 65 further job cuts

Dump truck manufacturer Terex Trucks has announced 65 further redundancies at its Scottish base.

The job cuts are the latest to hit the workforce at the plant in Motherwell, which has more than halved since a peak of 630 employees in 2009/10.

Management blamed market conditions and a downturn in global demand for their articulated and rigid dump trucks which serve industries such as construction and mining.

In the latest round of cuts, subject to a statutory consultation period, 55 jobs on the shop floor will go along with 10 administrative positions, leaving a staff of 300.

Work progresses on new M74 bridge in South Lanarkshire

Work is progressing on a new bridge for the M74 in South Lanarkshire, Transport Scotland has announced.

The structure is being built over the new underpass at Raith as part of the £500 million M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project.

It will be the last remaining bridge to be developed over the new underpass, which will separate traffic on the A725 from those using the M74.

With the project due to be completed this weekend, a contraflow system will be in effect on the north side of the A725 roundabout from 8pm on Friday, 17 June to 6am on Monday, 20 June. Diversions will be in place.

Scotland TranServ to begin £1.6m M8 motorway upgrade

Scotland TranServ is due to begin a £1.6 million upgrade programme between junctions 12 and 15 of the M8 motorway.

The 10-week project is part of a second phase of improvement works and will begin on Sunday, 19 June.

Works include replacing the existing central reserve safety barrier across three locations on the M8 and the M77 at the offslip to Nithsdale overbridge.

The project will be carried out between 8pm – 6am each night under a series of lane closures.

Accountancy firm Henderson Loggie appoints property and construction head

Henderson Loggie has appointed Kenneth McEwen to lead the accountancy firm’s specialist property and construction sector group.

Kenneth takes up the newly created role to promote and build upon the considerable property expertise that exists across Henderson Loggie’s offices in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh.

As a property tax specialist, he brings a wealth of knowledge of issues affecting the sector and has particular expertise in tailoring tax planning that is efficient for both businesses and their owners.

BiFab secures £100m contract on BOWL development

Burntisland Fabrications Ltd (BiFab) has been awarded a £100 million contract on the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) project.

The engineering firm will manufacture substructures for the £2.6 billion scheme in the Moray Firth.

Around 200 jobs will be protected and the structures are due to be ready by 2018.

Contractor enters final stage of Glasgow community project

Glasgow-based contractor Stick and Steel Construction is entering the final stages of a community building project in the city.

The £820,000 scheme aims to create a new home for local charity Church House by linking a converted part of the former Queen Mary School with existing facilities within the St Francis in the East Church.

The single-storey project is being funded with £671,000 secured by Clyde Gateway from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and £150,000 from the Church of Scotland.

The project is due to be completed by the end of this month.

Scottish firms invited to apply for VIBES awards

Scottish construction businesses are being invited to apply a green accolade at the Vision in Business for the Environment of Scotland (VIBES) Awards.

The event is presented to over 100 companies which have displayed a commitment to reducing their impact on the environment through big or small operations.

Past VIBES Awards winners include City Building, Clark Contracts, Laing O’Rourke and Graham Construction.

There are eight award categories; Management Large, Management SME, Green Team, Transport, Circular Economy, Environmental Product or Service and a special Hydro Nation Challenge Award in collaboration with WaterAid. This year will also see the addition of a new theme category for the first time which will reward innovation in celebration of Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.

A Micro Business Award will also be presented to the best entry to any category from a company with less than 10 employees.

All entries must be submitted by 5pm on Thursday, 30 June.