Building Briefs - June 22

Scottish Power has announced plans to build a new hydro electric scheme near Kirkcudbright.

The project would see a small turbine placed at the bottom of the Tongland dam.

Plans lodged with Dumfries and Galloway Council said the scheme will generate about 700 megawatts a year.

If the proposals are approved, a generator would be housed within a new building constructed in the pool area below the dam.

The electricity generated by the project would be exported to the nearby grid.

Up to nine people would work on the construction of the scheme.

A Scottish Power spokesman said: “Our plans are at a very early stage and we are still carrying out studies to determine the feasibility of the project.

“The potential project is to install a small compensation turbine at the bottom of the Tongland dam.”

He added: “We will be consulting with a wide range of stakeholders in the coming months before deciding whether to take the project forward.”

Barratt Developments appoints new chief financial officer

Barratt Developments has appointed Neil Cooper to its Board of Barratt as an executive director in the capacity of chief financial officer.

Neil is currently Group Finance Director of bookmakers William Hill and was Group Finance Director of Bovis Homes Group from 2007 until 2010.

Prior to that he worked for eight years with Whitbread in finance roles across a range of businesses.

Neil qualified as a Management Accountant with Reckitt & Colman PLC (now Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC) before working as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ management consultancy practice.

He is a non-executive director of Pennon Group PLC.

Steel beams for Third Don Crossing arrive in Aberdeen

Huge steel beams for the £18million Third Don Crossing have arrived in Aberdeen.

The 60-tonne beams were transported to the site at Grandholm Village on the north side of the River Don on Thursday.

They arrived after a 27-hour journey from Darlington in County Durham with a Police Scotland escort for the last part through Aberdeen.

Other pieces are arriving over the next few days and once they are all on site, an 800-tonne crane will lift and swing them out over the River Don before the Balfour Beatty team secure them in place.

The lifting operations for the steel beams are scheduled for the middle of next month, subject to weather.

Once they are delivered to the site, the beams will be temporarily supported approximately 2.5m in mid-air using steel supports. This will allow for welding and painting operations, and a tent/scaffold will be erected around them to facilitate the works and limit noise.

The Third Don Crossing will see the construction of a new single carriageway link road between the Parkway/Whitestripes Road junction and the Tillydrone Avenue/St Machar Drive junctions, including the construction of the new bridge.

Work started in November 2014 and the contract completion date has been extended to January 2016. Construction firm Balfour Beatty is the main contractor for the site.

LMA team continues to grow

Continuing business growth has resulted in a trio of new appointments at LMA architects.

Graham Whitters, Graham Muirhead and Mark McHenry have joined the firm over the past few weeks to bring a range of new skills and experience.

Mr Whitters joins as a Senior Architect having previously worked with Keppie’s and Archial in Glasgow. He has extensive design experience in the healthcare sector and was the Project Architect on the highly commended Broxden Health Centre in Perth.

Mr Muirhead is a Senior Revit Technician and joins from Broadway Malyan in Liverpool. As well as bringing technical experience in the retail and commercial sectors, he will lead the practice’s move towards full BIM implementation in 2015.

Mr McHenry is a Senior Chartered Architectural Technologist and brings both private and public sector experience specialist knowledge of the education sector.