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under the bridge

Stringent settlement limits imposed diameter launch and reception shafts mitigate this, SGN obtained temporary
by Transport Scotland required the being approximately 20 metres deep. use of a piece of local farmland and
HDD profile to be specifically designed A contract for the detailed design of created a car park for hillwalkers for the
to pass through the soft glacial till on the pipeline was awarded to Saith, who duration of the works.
the north side, to the rock interface appointed OTB Engineering to design On the south side, the working areas
below the river. From there, it was in the shafts and micro-tunnel. would impact upon users of Boden Boo
solid basalt to the exit point at Mar Hall SGN also identified that, due to the Community Woodland, which is also
five-star golf and spa resort. location of the works, which were very popular with the local community.
The design settlement analysis mainly located within the village of Old Upgraded footpath diversions were
satisfied the Transport Scotland limits Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire, provided and the pipeline route was
and a monitoring scheme also formed stakeholder engagement with the local amended to reduce the environmental
part of the approved design to ensure community would play a critical factor impact and minimise the number of
the design settlement limits were not in the success of the project. Stakeholder mature trees that needed to be removed.
exceeded during construction. and communications representatives The construction area for the HDD
The results from the geotechnical became a crucial part of my project strings on the south side of the river
investigations also determined the delivery team, which helped to ensure was on land rented from Erskine,
ground conditions at the railway that local residents and visitors were the care facility for retired military
crossing at Kilpatrick Station were not consulted and constantly updated on service personnel. As a thank you for
conducive to HDD, so this crossing the proposals in order to minimise the the support and understanding shown
would need to be installed using micro- impact on the local community. to the project, SGN commissioned a
tunnelling techniques. Public meetings were held with the commemorative bench to be made
The crossing point was directly communities on either side of the river from one of the few mature trees that
below Kilpatrick station, which sat in to present plans and obtain feedback to had to be felled as a result of the pipe
a five-metre-deep cutting. In order to mitigate disruption. The work locations installation in Boden Boo Community
satisfy Network Rail’s strict criteria for on the north side of the river required Woodland. This bench was gifted to the
settlement, the tunnel invert needed the closure of a local park and football veterans who use the Reid MacEwan
to be seven metres below the rail level, pitch and were also expected to have a Activity Centre at Erskine.
located in the stiff clay band below the major impact on the community by the Once the design work was completed
sand and gravel layers. removal of parking facilities for the many and the proposals accepted by Transport
This resulted in the eight-metre users of the Kilpatrick Hills. In order to Scotland, the construction contract was

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ErskineBridgeProject.indd 3
ErskineBridgeProject.indd 3 12/03/2020 16:01