River Ness Art Project - moves to next stage
The public artwork, My Ness, like other contracts, was paused during lockdown in line with national guidance, however construction projects, which are valuable to the local economy and jobs, can now take place.
The Council has authorisation from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, through a Licence issued under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (as amended) (CAR Licence), to undertake all works and these are due to begin this week.
The next phase of the contract will involve the drilling of a maximum of 3 bore holes, to allow the completion of the structural calculations. The work to drill the bore holes is not expected to take more than 1 day. This is planned for Tuesday 14th July.
Once this preparatory work has been completed, work to install the art installation is programmed to commence on site August/September 2020. Work on site is expected to take 12 weeks to complete. The project remains compliant with all previously issued statutory consents.
Chair of the Working Group, Cllr Isabelle Mackenzie said:
“This significant public art project aims to create a major new visitor destination along the banks of the River Ness in Inverness. As has been agreed through meetings of the City of Inverness Area Committee. Their input has been invaluable allowing us to proceed with the enhanced disability access.
"We are at each stage checking all necessary precautions are taken to protect the local environment.
"We look forward to see work starting on the installation very soon, especially at a time when we are beginning to emerge from lockdown and valuable construction works are able to get underway, and thank the project team for all the work to progress us during this stage
"We will all soon be able to meet with our friends and families once again and My Ness will give a focus for people to meet and enjoy the tranquility and peace of the riverside."
As per Scottish Government current guidance all contractors working on site will follow the correct social distancing rules and using the correct PPE. The contractor will have the necessary Risk Assessments and Method Statements for the works being undertaken which includes COVID-19 guidance.