Sound Of Barra Integrated Transport Project

Aird Mhor - 10 November 2001

Rapid progress in the fortnight up to November 10 saw the construction work on the access road to the new ferry port at Aird Mhor move very close to completion. Meanwhile work also continued on the port itself, with more work on the breakwater, slipway and berthing structure. A summary of the work between October 26 and November 10 includes:

Approach road: seven more blasts - six near where the new road will join the existing roadway and one more in rock source which lies beside the new road closer to the sea.
Drilling continues in rock source. Drilling and blasting in the approach road is approximately 90 per cent complete.
Filling embankments in the approach road is approximately 90 per cent complete.

Port: Breakwater filled at low level to a length of 175m from the shore. Armour has been placed to outer and inner slopes for 125m from the shore. Overall Breakwater is 75 per cent complete by volume.
Slipway concreting continues. Now completed are all three toe beams, eight out of nine berthing wall sections and 33 per cent of the total area of slabs poured.
The work on the timber alignment/berthing structure has started. Three pile bases have been made with galvanised steel shoes cast into which the greenheart timber piles fit.

There are four tracked excavators and two articulated dump trucks on site.

Personnel: 21 total of which eight are resident in the Western Isles.

Weather: Wet and windy.