Heriot Watt University Students – 3rd November 2009

Site tours were conducted for more than 100 students from Heriot Watt University last month.

Neil McCulloch and Lynsey Tweedlie from the project team visited the University beforehand to give the Civil Engineering students an informative briefing on the project. The first year students, who were just a few weeks into their five year course, were then given a guided tour of the site. During the visit they had the opportunity to meet key personnel from Scottish Water and Black & Veatch and ask them questions about the project.

Their lecturer, Dr. Pauline Thompson, has already requested a follow up visit to the site for next year. Dr Thompson said:

“The visit to Glencorse was superb. Not only did they get to learn a lot about this fascinating project but they also got to meet a lot of ‘real’ engineers! What a great start for our students so early in their studies - an invaluable experience!”

Click here to see the latest photographs from the construction site.

Residents Visit - 7th October 2009

The project team conducted a second site tour for local residents this week. The tour was well attended with almost twenty residents coming along to the evening visit, the youngest of them being eight years old! Residents who had visited the site in May of this year commented on the huge transformation that had taken place in just five months. Those visiting for the first time were amazed at the scale of the project since so little of the works can be seen from the main road.

The visit was a great opportunity for the team to explain how the project is progressing and what is going to happen over the next few months. We will invite our neighbours to the site for another visit in the Spring.

This quarter, our In Focus article looks at the green roof aspect of the Glencorse Project. The article explains why a grass roof is important to the project and what the benefits of having a grass roof are.

Click here to find out more about what will be the largest grass roof structure in Scotland (pdf).

£500 Donation to Local Charity – 7th September 2009

We were delighted to present a £500 cheque to the Beeslack All Stars. The All Stars are a disability sports group that offer a range of activities including football, archery, and basketball to children aged five to 16. More than 60 young people attend the twice-weekly sessions.

The Glencorse team recently picked up the Scottish Water Award for ‘Excellence in Health and Safety’, as sponsored by Mott McDonald. The first prize was a £500 cheque for the charity of their choice.

Senior Project Manager, Richard Anderson said: “We didn’t have to think too hard in order to nominate our favourite local charity. The son of one of our catering team is involved with the All Stars and we know how important it is in the life of these young athletes.”

Back to School – 20th August 2009

During the last academic session, the project team worked with three local primary schools to provide pupils with education about the Glencorse project.

This involved activities both within the classroom and on the construction site. We arranged for pupils from P4 to visit the construction site and the pipe production plant for a guided tour. We also worked with the Countryside Rangers from Pentland Hills Regional Park to give the pupils the opportunity to take part in some water related activities at the Park. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed learning about the project and are looking forward to coming back to see the progress that has been made on site.

The project team will continue to work with schools and have some exciting activities planned for the new term!

Click here to read more about our work with schools.

Information on Road Closure - 14th August 2009

Bush Loan Road has now been re-opened. We had to close this road for a period of 3 weeks in order to connect the pipework that will carry clean water from the new treatment works to the existing water network. The work has been completed successfully. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Considerate Constructors – 10th August 2009

The Considerate Constructors Scheme is a national initiative aimed at improving the image of the construction industry. Sites that register with the scheme are monitored against a Code of Considerate Practice. Construction sites are assessed on a number of factors such as whether they are good neighbours, environmentally conscious, respectful and safe.

Our construction partner, Black and Veatch, have registered the Glencorse site with the Considerate Constructors Scheme and we recently received a very positive report after an assessment of the Glencorse project. All areas that were assessed achieved a grading of 'high level beyond compliance' or 'exceptional measures taken'. Highlighted in the report was the consideration given to the environmentally sensitive area. Also praised were the welfare facilities on site and the level of communication with stakeholders.

Countryside Rangers Visit - 6th August 2009

Rangers and volunteers from the Pentland Hills Regional Park were invited to take part in a guided tour of the construction site last week. The Countryside Rangers thoroughly enjoyed their tour and were particularly interested in the ‘green’ aspects of the project such as the grass roof and the hydro turbine. The living roof will help the treatment works to blend into the surrounding countryside and the hydro turbine will harness the power of the water to generate approximately one third of electricity required to run the works.

The treatment works is on the doorstep of the Regional Park and the Rangers now feel better equipped to answer questions from visitors to the park regarding the Glencorse project.

Click here to visit the Pentland Hills Regional Park website.

New e:Letter Released - 31st July 2009

The latest edition of our e:Letter is now available. Click below to read the latest news on who has been visiting the site and how the project is progressing.

Click here to view the e:letter (pdf).

Information on Road Closure - 3rd July 2009

An essential part of the Glencorse Project is the new water mains that will carry treated water from the treatment works to the existing water network. To allow this work to take place, a section of Bush Loan Road will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians for up to three weeks commencing Monday 27th of July. Diversions to the alternative route via the A703 will be well signposted.

Click here to see a map of the road closure (pdf).

Safety First at Glencorse - 1st July 2009

The Glencorse Project has recently been announced as a winner in this year’s Scottish Water Capital Programme Awards. These awards are presented annually to projects showing outstanding achievement in various categories. Glencorse has been awarded ‘Excellence in Health & Safety’ in recognition of the project teams ‘best practice’ approach to Health and Safety.

One contributing factor was that in 241,000 man hours we have had zero reportable accidents. Quite an achievement!

As well as this, our construction partner Black & Veatch recently received a prestigious Gold Award from the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). These awards acknowledge our dedication to having a safe working environment.

Pipeline Update - 12th June 2009

An important part of the project is the new pipelines that will carry treated water from Glencorse Water Treatment Works to the existing water supply networks in Edinburgh and Midlothian. We have now begun to position the large diameter pipes into the trenches. It will take 18 months to complete this part of the project and will involve 15km of new pipe going into the ground.

Click here to see more details of the pipeline route (pdf).

Update on Residents Visit - 5th June 2009

In April another ‘Meet The Team’ session was held for local residents at The Flotterstone Inn. This was a good opportunity to update our neighbours on the progress of the project and to listen to any concerns that they had. Click here to read a summary of the evening (pdf).  
 

During the Meet The Team session we asked residents if they would be interested in a guided tour of the site; the answer was a resounding “Yes!”. The site visit took place on the 13th of May and was a great success. Residents were kitted-out in hard hats and fluorescent jackets and given a safety induction before observing the site from the viewing platforms. We will invite our neighbours to another site visit next year to allow them to see the progress of the project.

In Focus - 8th May 2009

Every Quarter we focus on a particular area of the project and explain it in more detail. This Quarter we are focussing on the Mobile Pipe Manufacturing Plant. As mentioned previosly on this page, the mobile production plant is a world first and a very interesting aspect of the project. Click here to find out more (pdf). . 
 

Project Update - 10th April 2009

The site has now moved to summer working hours which commence at 7.30am. The progress on site is now accelerating with these extended hours and should allow us to finish on time. The construction of the concrete foundations and walls of the treatment building are now well under way and excavation work for the 90 million litre treated water storage tank has begun. Most of the material we are excavating is being stored temporarily in adjacent fields and will be returned to the site for backfilling around the new tanks and for final landscape screening. Some spoil also requires to be exported off the site and this will commence shortly. 

Our mobile pipe manufacturing plant has been producing the large diameter pipes for two months and we now have a stock of pipes ready to go into the ground. The top soil along the pipeline route is currently being stripped. We have archaeologists monitoring this operation to ensure we are not disturbing anything of historical interest.

Pipeline Work Begins

The pipeline part of the project is about to commence. The pipelines will carry treated water from Glencorse to the existing water supply network in Edinburgh. Large diameter, treated water pipes, a waste water pipe and an emergency outfall pipe are to be built. These will all be laid underground by digging a trench, laying the pipes and covering them back over. Although most of the route is through farmland, a number of roads, watercourses, tree belts and hedges will also be crossed.

Some of the working areas along the pipeline route are in the process of being fenced and field drainage surveys have also commenced in sections. Various subcontractors will be delivering sections of work on behalf of Black & Veatch and Scottish Water.

The entire pipeline will take about 18 months to build. Construction work will move along the route and therefore will not stay in any one place for long. Construction vehicles building the pipelines will mainly use the pipeline route itself to transport pipes and equipment to help reduce the need for using local roads.

For more information on when each section of pipeline will be constructed and to see the route of the pipeline click here (pdf). 
 

19th February 2009 - Project Update

The local pipework diversions and associated roadworks are now complete and work at the site is now gathering pace. The concrete works to the treatment building are underway and the first of 50,000 cubic metres of concrete – enough to fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools - is now in the ground.
Within the concrete there will be around 6,000 tonnes of steel reinforcement. A new addition to the site is the first of two huge temporary tower cranes, which will lift and manoeuvre all the materials and equipment required to build the water treatment works into place.

It has been a busy few weeks for the project. One of the latest developments is that the mobile pipe production plant is now up and running. This mobile pipe production factory is a world first and will help to reduce lorry journeys by up to 75 percent.

For further details on the mobile pipe production plant view our Latest Progress Page.
 

16th February 2009 - Road Works Complete

The A702 trunk road has been re-opened after the successful completion of the major pipework diversions. Our pipeline construction partners Carillion worked through blizzards and sub-zero temperatures to complete their work ahead of schedule.

The road closure allowed for the diversion of two large diameter raw water mains that carry water from the Borders to Edinburgh. The diverted pipes will now be able to supply the new Glencorse WTW and also allow future improvements to the notorious Mauricewood Road / A702 Junction. This was a major piece of work and its completion is a significant step forward for the project.

16th January 2009 - Monthly E:letter Update

Happy New Year!

Read the latest news from the Glencorse Project Team in the January edition of the monthly newsletter. View our January E:letter (pdf).

After 18 months, the frequency of this newsletter is now set to reduce. The project is now firmly positioned as a major construction contract for Scottish Water and we will continue to make measured progress over the coming months ahead. 

We will continue to post regular updates and progress photos on our project website at www.scottishwater.co.uk/glencorse and the e:letter will continue to be issued at intervals.

9th January 2009 - Road Closures Planned

An essential part of the Glencorse Project involves the diversion of water mains in the A702 (Edinburgh to Biggar) Trunk Road and Mauricewood Road adjacent to our construction site. These planned activities on the water mains are due to be undertaken in the coming weeks.

The western end of Mauricewood Road will be closed at the junction with the A702 from the morning of Monday 26th January 2009 and will not reopen until the morning of Monday 16th February.  Access for all local residents of Mauricewood Road and Bellwood Road will continue to be provided from the east via Penicuik or Milton Bridge.

The A702 will be closed from 8pm on the evening of Friday 6th February and will reopen again by 6am on Monday 16th February 2009. Diversions will be well signposted and will be via Penicuik on the A766, A701 and A703. The diversion route will be between the junction of the A766 with the A702 (between Eight Mile Burn and Nile Mile Burn) at the south and A703 / A702 Junction at Hillend to the north.  Local access will be maintained for properties along the closed section of the A702.

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