£900k remedial work on wall to start next month
Work on a £900,000 project designed to ensure the longterm safety of a retaining wall along a key Blairgowrie road is to get under way next month.
Perth and Kinross Council is to undertake remedial work on the structure supporting Welton Road near the town’s Scottish Water treatment plant, starting on July 19.
The local authority has said an inspection revealed part of the wall had been damaged and the 19-week project will see a temporary safety measure removed and replaced with a permanent one.
Work is to take place between 7am and 5pm and the road will be closed between these times, including to pedestrians.
A council spokesperson explained: “As part of our asset management responsibilities, the council undertakes routine inspections of the existing infrastructure to assess and monitor its condition.
“During one inspection, we found that the gabion basket retaining wall supporting the U108 in the vicinity of the access to the Scottish Water treatment plant had suffered scour damage.
“The council subsequently introduced a programme of monitoring to the retaining wall to ensure that it remained safe to the public while keeping the road open.
“This allowed us to identify a solution to rectify the situation while working with other stakeholders such as SEPA, NatureScot and neighbouring landowners.
“During this period, the condition gradually deteriorated which resulted in the necessity to introduce temporary measures to stabilise the slope while the permanent solution was developed. The temporary measures were implemented during the summer of 2020.”
The council representative continued: “The works on the permanent solution will commence on July 19 and will comprise the removal of the temporary solution, the installation of steel sheet piles over a length of circa 100m and the introduction of a vehicle barrier. This will provide support to the embankment and road while minimising the impact on the watercourse.
“The installation of the sheet piles and removal of the temporary works will require large plant [machinery] to be positioned on the carriageway and will therefore require the full road closure for a period of approximately 19 weeks.
“We have endeavoured to minimise the impact on the public by allowing the road to re-open outwith site working hours.
“It is also necessary that the closure extends to pedestrians.
“We are aware that this is a popular route for active travel and have therefore identified a pedestrian diversion route and will put notices in place informing the public of this route.”
The £900,000 potential valuation for the project was included in correspondence in relation to the work sent by a council officer and seen by the Blairie.