As a precursor to the Central and Southern Scotland Annual Dinner, held in Glasgow on the 8 October, IHT President Chris Jackson and his wife Janet were given a tour by the Branch of various transport related sites.

The day started with a trip to the M74 extension site in Glasgow.  This project will close a gap in Scotland’s motorway network by linking the existing M74 at Fullarton Road to the M8 at the south end of the Kingston Bridge.  This will parallel the M8 but south of the River Clyde to reduce traffic by 20% on the M8 through Glasgow and reduce travel times from Hamilton to Glasgow airport by 12 minutes. 

With a total project cost of £692 million, this is a complex engineering project and despite being only 5 miles in length includes 4 major bridges including the Eglinton Viaduct which is over 750 metres long.  Threading the route through an urban location means isolated work sites and although much of the route was derelict, numerous businesses were affected.  Ground conditions are poor over the route and a massive grouting exercise involving over 30 grouting rigs was required.  The industrial past of much of the alignment means that ground contamination was widespread and the design favoured above ground construction with only a small length of cut.  The imported fill material includes demolition rubble from some of the Glasgow multi-storey housing demolished recently and from the former Hoover factory in Cambuslang. 


Construction commenced in March 2008 and already the works are approximately 6 months ahead of programme.  The girders for the viaduct at the west end of the scheme were recently installed utilising the largest crane in Europe which still dominates the local skyline. 

The next high profile task will be the launching of the Eglinton Viaduct girders over the West Coast Main Line.  This launch will be done during 17 night time possessions of the railway with only two and a half working hours per night and a launch speed of 10 metres per hour.  The girders are 4.5 metres in depth and are being welded together on site from sections transported by road from Cleveland Bridge’s Darlington factory. 

The project should result in regeneration providing up to 20,000 new jobs. 

It is anticipated the road will open in August 2011.  The contractor is Interlink M74 JV a joint venture of Morgan Est, Balfour Beatty, Sir Robert MacAlpine and Morrisons with the designers being Jacobs/Atkins JV.  The scheme is funded by Transport Scotland and Glasgow City, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire Councils.

From the M74 it was back in to Glasgow Central station to visit First Scotrail’s train simulator centre.  A break from the hectic schedule of driver assessment allowed Chris to try his hand at driving a Class 170 diesel multiple unit.  Although Chris found the concept of the power controls strange he soon had the train at 60mph and was busy responding to all the “driver vigilance” controls.  Our instructor, Malcolm Cook, delivered the verdict that Chris was a “bit robust” with the controls.  The simulator was tried by various members of the party testing their skills in snow, fog, rain and poor adhesion.  Finally an emergency stop was achieved bringing the train to a stop from 80mph in 750 metres.  This clearly demonstrated how long it takes to stop a train and how powerless the driver can be in the case of a line blockage or trespassers. 

Every aspect of the train can be simulated at the centre and drivers have to undertake a gruelling six and a half hours in the simulator every two years to retain their licence. 

The final stop of the day was a visit to Traffic Scotland’s operation centre.  Transport Scotland appointed Atkins to run the centre in January 2008 and a typical month sees 240 unplanned incidents.  The control system links Variable Message Signs, Gantry signs and direct reports with the Traffic Scotland website automatically updated.  An automated diary is filled with planned events such as roadworks and any event attracting more than 3000 people.  Live information, such as cones going out or coming off goes automatically on the website.  The website achieved 58.5 million page impressions in 2008 with the peak time of day between 1530 & 1630 as people’s thoughts turn to the journey home from work.  The control centre also provides live broadcasts into the independent radio network and provides information for BBC Radio and other stations. 

To react quickly to incidents, emergency diversionary routes are pre-planned for the trunk road network. When roads are closed by fatal accidents or other major incidents, the pre-planning means that over an hour is saved in getting the diversions in place.  

The IHT party watched as live incidents developed and operators provided assistance to a “lone female” with a puncture on her hire car. 

The Branch is delighted to showcase transportation related projects in the local area and thanks are due to the following people who made an enjoyable day possible.

Graham Porteous  - Transport Scotland
Colin Badger  - Interlink M74
Steve McFadden  - Interlink M74
Malcolm Cook  - First Scotrail
Stein Connolly  - Traffic Scotland
Adam Harper  - Atkins
Alison Irvine  -  Transport Scotland