Preparatory works to continue on Edinburgh extension

Over the past couple of months since final approval was given for the Trams to Newhaven project in Edinburgh the first stage of preparatory works have been taking place with ground and site investigation underway. This stage of work is now coming to an end with all areas due to be complete during the week commencing Monday 22nd July – and then it will be time for the next stage of works which will include vibration testing.

The ground investigation works which have been taking place have been conducted by contractor Sacyr, Farrans, Neopul (SFN) who were appointed shortly before full approval was given to the extension. The purpose of these works is to determine the ground conditions along the route so the final designs for the project can be confirmed. The work has taken place at 25 separate sites on the alignment of the route with sections of 100 metres dealt with at a time. Amongst other things being checked has been the depth of the bedrock so that when the final design is made they are aware of how deep the infrastructure foundations needs to be as well as the dimension of the track slab.

With this stage now more or less at an end the project team have announced that the next phase will concentrate on vibration testing. These are said to be non-disruptive vibration tests and will allow the project team to identify any areas of concern and then design the track infrastructure with measures that mitigates any potential harmful vibrations. In effect this means that if these tests show that vibrations may be causing issues to structures along the route they will be able to include this information in the design to prevent it from being an issue.

The work will only take place during the week commencing 22nd July with seven separate locations being included in the tests. Each test will take up to two hours and the Trams to Newhaven team have said it shouldn’t have any noticeable effect on travel in the area.

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