Project case study - Doors Open Days
Throughout the duration of the construction phase, the project team aimed to be as open and accessible as possible to local communities, encouraging their involvement in various stages of the construction process and providing regular up-dates of progress on site.
One such initiative which facilitated this engagement was the project’s participation in the Doors Open Day events, coordinated by Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and funded by The Gannochy Trust.
Doors Open Day 2019
On Saturday 7th of September 2019, members of the public were given a unique insight into a major infrastructure project as the A9 Dualling: Luncarty to Pass of Birnam project welcomed 57 visitors to site as part of the annual Doors Open Day celebrations.
The project team, comprising of engineers from the project contractors, Balfour Beatty, and Transport Scotland, gave a first-hand account of the significant construction works which were underway to upgrade 9.5km of the A9 between Luncarty and the Pass of Birnam to dual carriageway.
The visitors enjoyed a project overview presentation at the site office, followed by a mini bus tour across the 9.5km construction site. The highlight of the tour included a stop at the public viewing platform at Pitlandie, just off the A9.
The viewing platform provided a safe zone where members of the public could view the construction of the new bridge structure and Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) pond at Pitlandie.
In the project offices, Stewart and Emma Parsons from Ellendale Environmental, who provided ecological and environmental services for the project, set up some equipment to demonstrate the type of work they carry out on site.
Doors Open Day 2021
In September 2021, we were delighted to be able to extend an invitation to members of the public for an in-person event. We opened our doors again, providing the opportunity for the public to learn about the project in person once more.
The 2021 event was hosted outdoors in line with current Covid19 guidance and we facilitated a walking tour of the site. The team welcomed 27 members of the public over two sessions with Construction Manager, Mark Elliot of Balfour Beatty, who provided an overview of construction progress and briefing before heading off in the Autumn sunshine for a walk to key locations along the route of the new A9 dual carriageway which was opened to traffic just a few weeks earlier, at the end of August.
Leaving from the site offices, the first stop was the on-site quarry where the benefits of having the capacity to source materials locally and batch concrete and asphalt on site were explained. The group then continued south along the new non-motorised user (NMU) route to visit the concrete arch bridge spanning the Ordie Burn, where Mark explained the construction process and benefits of using this precast concrete structure.
The tour continued to the location of the borrow pit, which had been in place adjacent to Newmill Farm, to talk about the recently departed colony of sand martins that had taken up residence in the embankment, before finishing the tour at the new Stanley/Tullybelton Junction.