Nominations required from local engineers

And nominations are invited for the Borders’ most innovative projects completed in 2015/16.

The recently completed Borders railway line was commended at last year’s awards for demonstrating an exceptional commitment to collaboration, coordination and communication, while the overall winner was the £25million redevelopment of Haymarket Station in Edinburgh, which joined the ranks of previous winners such as The Helix Park and Kelpies at Falkirk, and the M80 Stepps to Haggs motorway.

The deadline for nominations is the end of April.

The awards aim to shine a light on the vital contribution civil engineers make to Scottish life, but are not only reserved for large-scale projects.

In this, the society’s 80th year, there are six brand new categories, including the project that most beneficially impacts the people of Scotland and an ‘infrastructure’ award which recognises excellence in the design and construction of transport, ground or water engineering, energy, waste or regeneration projects.

There is also the ability to confer special awards, which will be awarded at the discretion of the judging panel, recognising excellence in buildings, environmental improvements and projects designed by Scottish-based teams but constructed abroad.

As well as techical achievement, projects in each category are assessed on their contribution to the sustainable creation, improvement and nurturing of the physical and social environment.

Flooding, storm damage and road and bridge closures in recent months have hit the headlines, increasing public awareness of transport, flooding and energy networks and their importance to the Scottish economy and the quality of our daily lives. Many of the problems are resolved by civil engineers.

Saltire Society and Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) Presidents will join an audience of over 150 senior figures from Scotland’s construction and built environment industries at the awards ceremony in Edinburgh on the evening of Tuesday, October 25.

Saltire Society President Magnus Linklater said: “This is a special year for the Saltire Society as we celebrate our 80th year.

“It’s also an important year for the built environment in Scotland, being Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.

“We look forward to a wide variety of civil engineering projects from across Scotland at our special awards ceremony in October.”