1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background information 1.2. Site description 1.3. Environmental Impact Assessment 1.4. The Environmental Statement 1.5. Structure of the Environmental Statement 1.6. Review and Comments

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background information

The Scottish Government (Transport Scotland) is developing proposals to replace Ba Bridge in Rannoch Moor as it is under strength having been found to fail the minimum load carrying capacity for Trunk Roads. The bridge carries the single carriageway A82 Trunk Road over the River Ba. Scotland TranServ is developing the scheme on behalf of Transport Scotland. The scheme was formerly developed by BEAR Scotland, who commissioned Jacobs Babtie to undertake a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and produce an Environmental Statement (ES) for the proposals. The ES has been updated and reviewed to incorporate additional environmental work that has been undertaken by Scotland TranServ.

1.2. Site description

The bridge over the River Ba is located within Rannoch Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Rannoch Moor Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Ben Nevis and Glen Coe National Scenic Area (NSA) and neighbours Rannoch Lochs Special Protection Area (SPA). The location of the bridge and the extent of the environmental interests within the study area are shown in Figures 1 and 3 within Appendix A.

1.3. Environmental Impact Assessment

The EIA of the proposed bridge replacement has been undertaken as an integral part of scheme design and appraisal, and follows the completion of an Environmental Scoping Report, which provided a brief description of the environmental impacts from all seven bridges in Glen Coe and Rannoch Moor, without detailed site specificity. The purpose of the assessment was to investigate the likely impact of the preferred route on the biological, physical, geomorphological and historical environment as well as on human welfare and current or future use of the environment. The environmental constraints have directly informed the design process and contract specification by incorporating measures to avoid, reduce, remedy or offset any predicted adverse environmental impacts.

1.4. The Environmental Statement

This Environmental Statement (ES) presents the results of the Stage 3 Scoping Report carried out in accordance with guidance from the Scottish Government on procedures as set out in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) Volume 11 (1993 and subsequent amendments), and in compliance with Directive 85/337 EEC, as amended by Directive 97/11/EC, and applied by the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (as amended).

Accordingly, this ES sets out to provide:

  • a description of the proposed scheme, comprising information on the site, design and scale of the project. This will include details of the land use requirements during construction and operation of the scheme as well as the nature, type and quantities of materials used;
  • an outline of the main alternatives and the main reasons for the choice of the preferred scheme, taking into account environmental effects. Scheme alternatives were considered fully in the Jacobs Babtie report of 2002.
  • a description of the aspects of the environment likely to be significantly affected by the proposed scheme;
  • a description of the likely significant effects on the environment arising from the proposed scheme, its use of materials or its emissions. This will include direct, indirect, secondary, cumulative, short, medium and long-term, permanent, temporary, positive and negative effects and a description of the forecasting methods used to assess the impacts on the environment;
  • a description of the measures envisaged to avoid, prevent, reduce and offset any significant adverse environmental impacts;
  • an indication of any difficulties encountered in compiling the required information; and
  • a non-technical summary of the information provided above.

The purpose of the ES is to identify the residual effects of the proposed scheme taking into account proposed mitigation measures in an objective, clear and comprehensive manner, so as to provide the Scottish Ministers, statutory and non-statutory bodies and the public with sufficient information to assess the impacts arising from the proposals in order for them to comment on its environmental impacts.

1.5. Structure of the Environmental Statement

The Environmental Statement (ES) presents the main report detailing the results of the EIA including figures (indicative) and appendices that offer supporting information to the EIA. The main section of the ES is presented in three sub-sections: Sub-section 1 contains an introduction, the need for the scheme, a summary of the alternatives considered, the key environmental issues and a detailed project description; Sub-section 2 contains the results of the scoping exercise undertaken with key statutory consultees together with the environmental assessment of the main topic areas; and Sub-section 3 summarises the main environmental impacts identified from the EIA process and the Schedule of Environmental Commitments agreed with the Scottish Government in tabular form.

A glossary of terms is provided immediately preceding Sub-section 1. Tables and Figures are interspersed throughout the text.

The Non-Technical Summary (NTS) highlights the key impacts and proposed mitigation measures in non-technical language and is bound into the front of Volume One of the Environmental Statement and is also available as a separate document.

Sub-section 1 – Introduction, project description and assessment of alternatives

Sub-section 1 comprises three chapters that provide the introduction and background to the scheme:

  • Chapter 1 includes this introduction, which presents the purpose of the report, the assessment team and the report structure;
  • Chapter 2 summarises the need for the scheme in terms of existing issues and the condition of the existing bridge;
  • Chapter 3 describes the proposed scheme in terms of the details of the specimen design with proposed construction methods and programme.

Sub-section 2 – Environmental Impact Assessment

Sub-section 2 is divided into 10 chapters:

Sub-section 3 – Summary tables

Sub-section 3 presents the overall assessment summary:

  • Chapter 12 provides a table of the environmental impacts associated with the project and summarises the significance of residual impacts with mitigation in place;
  • Chapter 13 provides a summary of the mitigation and monitoring requirements that will be adopted during the construction and operation of the scheme including the objectives and mitigation methods.

1.6. Review and Comments

Copies of the Environmental Statement are made available for inspection during normal office hours at:

The Scottish Government

Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
Transport Scotland
TS Trunk Roads Network Management
TS TRNM Bridges
8th Floor
Buchanan House
58 Port Dundas Road
Glasgow
G4 0HF

Fort William Library

Airds Crossing
High Street
Fort William
Lochaber
PH33 6EU;

and

The National Trust for Scotland Visitor Centre

Glencoe
Argyll
PH49 4LA.

Copies of the Environmental Statement may be purchased (at a charge of £70 for a hard copy) and are also available in CD format (at a charge of £10), or download at www.transportscotland.gov.uk.

All hard copy requests should be made in writing to:

Alex Gardener
The Scottish Government

Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
Transport Scotland
TS Trunk Roads Network Management
TS TRNM Bridges
8th Floor
Buchanan House
58 Port Dundas Road
Glasgow
G4 0HF

The Non-Technical Summary is available free of charge from the same address and online.

Following the publication of the Environmental Statement, there will be a period of six weeks, during which representations may be made in writing to The Chief Road Engineer at the Scottish Government Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department at the address above. The closing date for any such representations will be as specified in the Public Notice.