Page 12 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Eleven

Improvements to the Deeside Way
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Before
The Deeside Way is a 41-mile path suitable for both walkers and cyclists. The route runs from Aberdeen to Ballater and predominantly follows the line of the defunct Royal Deeside Railway, with a section through woodland and farmland between Banchory and Aboyne.
Parts of the Deeside Way have deteriorated over time and, in 2020, Nestrans (Transport Partnership for Aberdeen City and Shire) secured funding for improvements.
The work was divided into three phases: Ballater to Cambus O’May (5.5km); Boghead to Cambus O’May (6km); Banchory to Crathes (1km). W M Donald started on the first phase in October 2020, with the second phase undertaken in March 2021. The final phase, Banchory to Crathes, is currently in progress.
Scott Dickie is the W M Donald engineer on the project:
‘The major challenges involved gaining access to the path and managing cyclists and walkers once work was under way.
Sections of the Deeside Way run through private estates. We liaised with the estate managers to agree access routes to the path. We also used lay-bys alongside to gain access.
Width restrictions, combined with limited access, meant there was significant transport of materials using dumpers from stockpiles to active work areas.
The works themselves were fairly straightforward. We lightly scraped the path to remove the vegetation that had encroached, and then repaired some minor drainage problems. The path was resurfaced with crushed stone, similar to sub-base, laid using the smaller paver from the W M Donald fleet. We created a camber to ensure surface water drained away. There were some minor works to install bollards and staggered fencing to slow down cyclists joining and leaving the path.
The path has been open to users throughout the works. We approached the project in short sections and alerted users of that section in advance by posting announcements. We asked users to wait at the start or end of the area of the path we were actively working on and, after halting plant movements, escorted users safely through the works as required.’
A section of the Royal Deeside Railway near Milton of Crathes has been renovated by volunteers. Services have been threatened due to the impact of coronavirus and the theft of power tools from one of the diesel locomotives. If you would like to support the work of The Royal Deeside Preservation Society, details of how to help can be found at: www.deeside-railway.co.uk.
After
To find out more about the Deeside Way, please visit: www.deesideway.org.