Giant crane for ‘heaviest’ bridge ever
A COMPLETELY new route to Forres wastewater treatment works has been created by AJ Engineering which had to bring in a mammoth crane to install what is ‘probably’ the company’s heaviest ever bridge to date.
The 44-tonne bridge required a 650 tonne crane to lift the whole roadway into place over the Mosset Burn.
The new route means that Scottish Water no longer have to access the site through Christie Elite Nurseries via the level crossing on the railway line.
The project was managed by Kevin Smith for Livingston-based Cleantech Civils on behalf of Scottish Water.
AJE provided two main girder beams and 24 cross beam sections for the bridge which is 16 metres long and 8 metres wide.
Kevin said: “It’s always nice to get a project close to home and you can’t get much closer than this, a two-minute walk from our Waterford facility where the bridge was fabricated. It was built on site and then installed in one piece and despite its size, it was actually a very straightforward project.”
Scottish Water has invested £5.6million in Forres wastewater treament and AJE has worked on other parts of the investment.
The main part of the project which began in 2020, involved refurbishing the existing works, including mechanical and electrical equipment at the site being upgraded or replaced to increase capacity.
The Forres Wastewater Treatment Works currently serve a population of around 14,500 people and the upgrade will mean the depot is able to continue to meet the needs of the growing community while protecting the environment.
Leading on the project for AJE was Wilson Burnett, M&E Technical Services Manager.
He said: “AJE has a long history of working on different wastewater projects and this one has been straightforward. Our role has included refurbishing the eight existing biological filter beds, including new penstocks to control the flows. We have also installed new access steelwork to the penstock chambers and to the new inlet works area, where debris and grit will be screened out of the incoming wastewater.”
