Page 17 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Eleven

Culbokie site throws up interesting challenges
Culbokie, meaning ‘haunted nook’, is a small village with a population of around 1,200. It is located around 15 mile north of Inverness in the ‘Black Isle’, the peninsular formed by the Cromarty Firth to the north, Beauly Firth to the south and Moray Firth to the east.
This beautiful, picturesque area is where Tulloch Homes is building thirty-three spacious new homes.
W M Donald has been involved with virtually every aspect of the project, which has thrown up some really interesting challenges. Kris Brown is W M Donald’s site supervisor:
‘Before any site works could commence, the access road had to be upgraded and widened. This was a major undertaking as every service had to be diverted, with power lines taken down and ducted underground.
The earthworks plan for the site was extensive. The ground conditions were solid rock and site levels had to be increased by a meter to accommodate this. It’s far better to build down to rock than through it!
As with all housing development projects, it was important to keep residents updated. Culbokie is a small, close community which is experiencing a degree of upheaval due to the construction works. Consequently, all eyes were on us!’
With the exception of the cable laying and connection on site which is being undertaken by SSE, W M Donald is responsible for all site infrastructure and plotworks. W M Donald’s in-house utilities team is being used to lay the water, undertake the mains diversion and make connections.
With the area being off-grid, there is no gas on site. Heating is by air source heat pumps.
‘When it is completed, the project will provide the local community with some really welcome new facilities. The project includes a new community park and there are future plans for a community hall.’
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