Prestigious Saltire Society Award

27th October 2010

The A830 Arisaig to Loch Nan Uamh Road Improvement wins prestigious Saltire Society Award - announced today 28th October 2010.

The A830 Arisaig to Loch Nan Uamh Road Improvement, the last section of the "Road to the Isles", has won the prestigious Saltire Society Award for Civil Engineering design in the Environment Category.

The A830 Arisaig to Loch nan Uamh Improvement, which was opened in April, last year, was managed by The Highland Council's Project Design Unit in Alness on behalf of Transport Scotland and was built by Morrison Construction.

The success was announced today (Thursday) at an award ceremony in Glasgow, which is organised by the Saltire Society and the Institution of Civil Engineers and recognises outstanding engineering projects in Scotland completed in the last two years.

Fifteen projects across Scotland hoped to win the coveted award or be recognised with a Commendation.

Councillor John Laing, Chairman of The Highland Council's Transport Environment and Community Services Committee, said: "I am delighted at this good news and this reflects the exceptionally hard work put into the project by the Council's Project Design Unit based in Alness as well as the efforts of the Contractor, Morrison Construction.

"A major effort was made on this scheme to mitigate the highly sensitive environment which this road passes through including the Special area of Conservation and the National Scenic Area and this is reflected in the high quality design which blends into the surrounding landscape. Close working with Transport Scotland has helped achieve this significant award and visitors and travellers alike to the Road to the Isles will appreciate the scenic quality of the new road."

Council Leader Michael Foxley added: "I am delighted with this award, which reflects great work by our engineers. The local community representatives, community councils, former councillor Charlie King and I had a great working relationship.