The Saltire Society held its annual civil engineering awards ceremony in October 2010 and it was announced that the A830 Arisaig to Loch nan Uamh project, for which Grontmij was designer, has been given two prestigious awards,  Environmentally Sustainable Construction Commendation and Skill of Design and Quality of Construction.

The award is given jointly between the Saltire Society and the Institution of Civil Engineering to recognise outstanding engineering projects completed in the past two years. Arisaig beat off stiff competition from another 14 projects from across Scotland which were entered for the awards.

The overall 2010 award was awarded to Arisaig ‘in recognition of the skill of design and high quality of construction used to deliver this major road improvement in a difficult and sensitive terrain’.

In achieving the Environmentally Sustainable Construction Commendation, The judges’ commented, “This commendation recognises the sympathetic and sensitive design and construction of this major road improvement in a difficult terrain. The final road fits superbly into the local environment”.

The Arisaig project removed the last single track section of trunk road in the whole of the UK and completed a 40 year programme of improvements to the A830 corridor. The A830, otherwise known as the ‘Road to the Isles’, runs from Fort William to Ferry port of Mallaig, and includes the Glen Finnan viaduct.