Latest A9 Contract Award Targets Sustainable Ground Investigation
Transport Scotland have awarded Soil Engineering the latest contract on the A9, with a focus on sustainable ground investigation as a key deliverable.
In announcing the award of the £635,000 project to Soil Engineering, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP highlighted the need to provide sustainable ground investigation from an environmental and social perspective. “This ground investigation contract also includes requirements that aim to reduce the carbon footprint of the works, including the use of renewable fuel sources and a focus on utilising local businesses and resources in the contractor’s supply chain”
The contract will be Soil Engineering’s ninth individual involvement in the A9 Dualling programme in the last decade. The project also comes hot on the heels of completing investigations for the A83 Medium Term Solution at Rest and be Thankful. Soil Engineering’s commitment to sustainable ground investigation has seen a significant investment in the company’s drilling fleet over that period with a full fleet renewal and expansion programme supporting cleaner and more efficient drilling processes.
Data from the contract’s paired works areas (Tay Crossing to Ballinluig, and Pitlochry to Killiecrankie) will inform the design, procurement and construction phases of the two sections, and sees Soil Engineering providing information supplementary to investigations previously undertaken by the business in recent years. The more sustainably delivered data will provide options for further sustainable construction decisions in future delivery stages. Soil Engineering’s project team will be working closely with Transport Scotland to deliver to the 8-week site programme with the minimum of disruption to road users.
Among the key sustainable ground investigation actions being delivered by Soil Engineering are a focus on local resourcing, minimising empty HGV movements, and the deployment of energy-saving welfare provision. The latter is key to the safe and effective delivery of works through the winter, providing an opportunity to decrease the carbon emissions related to undertaking the works in line with the business’s core pillar of Sustainability.
