Summary
Site
Glasgow Airport Investment Area (GAIA), 2022
Author
Stuart Angus
Innovative Carbon Cutting
Wills Bros were recently recognised alongside their design partners RPS for their innovative carbon cutting efforts on the Glasgow Airport Investment Area project in Engineers Ireland’s annual Engineering Excellence Digital Series. The team were successful in the Engineering Innovation of the Year category and go up against 3 other winning projects for the overall Engineering Endeavour of 2022 award in a public vote.
The team successfully developed an alternative solution for a new road crossing of high-voltage underground cables which replaced concrete and steel with recycled plastic and air. The innovative solution reduced the carbon emissions of this element of the works by 87% which in turn contributed to an overall carbon reduction of 20% compared to the original project baseline.
An example of saving on this project was the significant 1500 tonne saving of carbon through a carbon-conscious design change from a reinforced-concrete cable protection structure to a lightweight embankment utilising recycled plastic geo-cellular crates. Furthermore, this project’s success has enabled Wills to be featured in the New Civil Engineer, be shortlisted as a Sustainable Infrastructure Project of the Year with Edie and be a contender for Carbon Champion status with the Institution of Civil Engineers.
