On the 28th of October 2010 the Saltire Society* held its annual civil engineering awards ceremony in Glasgow. It was announced that the A830 Arisaig to Loch nan Uamh project, for which Grontmij was designer, has been awarded the 2010 award!
The award is given jointly between the Saltire Society and the Institution of Civil Engineering to recognise outstanding engineering projects completed in the past two years. Arisaig beat off stiff competition from another 14 projects from across Scotland which were entered for the awards.
The overall 2010 award was awarded to Arisaig ‘in recognition of the skill of design and high quality of construction used to deliver this major road improvement in a difficult and sensitive terrain’.
The project also received a commendation in the category of Environmental Sustainable Construction. The judges’ citation read, ‘This commendation recognises the sympathetic and sensitive design and construction of this major road improvement in a difficult terrain. The final road fits superbly into the local Environment’.
The € 26 million Arisaig project removed the last single track section of trunk road in the whole of the UK and completed a 40 year programme of improvements to the A830 corridor. The A830, otherwise known as the ‘Road to the Isles’, runs from Fort William to Ferry port of Mallaig, and includes the Glen Finnan viaduct (of Harry Potter fame).
Alasdair Fowler, Grontmij project director, commented, ‘This was an extremely challenging project and I would like to thank all those who worked throughout the project to ensure its successful completion. I think we should all take pride in the engineering achievement on the design of the scheme. The project demonstrates how major infrastructure can be designed and executed in a sustainable and sensitive manner – to the benefit of the local communities it serves’.
* The Saltire Society, founded in 1936, is a non-political body concerned with all aspects of Scottish life and culture. Through its Awards it promotes excellence in the arts and sciences.