Role: EIA / Archaeological Consultants

Cross Tay Link Road, Perth, Scotland

Client: Sweco UK

Project Client: Perth & Kinross Council

AMS completed the Cultural Heritage chapter of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) in November 2019 and currently act as heritage consultants for this project.

The project involves:

  • Stakeholder consultation
  • Scoping
  • A desk-based baseline study
  • A walk-over survey of the proposed route to inform the baseline
  • Site visits to inform the setting impact assessments
  • Cultural Heritage impact assessment and reporting
  • Developing archaeological strategies for investigation and mitigation
  • Prepare tender documents for archaeological investigations, both non-invasive (e.g. geophysical surveys) and invasive (e.g. evaluation trenching)
  • Overseeing these contracts and the archaeological contractors appointed to carry out these investigations

Standing Stone

Cross Tay Link Road Bridge – image courtesy of Perth and Kinross Council

Project Scope

The Cross Tay Link Road project will link the A9, A93 and A94, through the re-alignment of part of the A9, the construction of a grade separated junction and a bridge to carry the new road across the River Tay and the adjacent railway and a link road to the A94 north of Scone.

Perth and Kinross Council have appointed Sweco UK to produce the necessary designs for the project and undertake the environmental impact assessment.

Sweco UK have appointed AMS as the heritage consultants to assess the impact of the project on this resource and develop/manage the mitigation strategy.

Consideration Factors

The route of the Cross Tay Link Road traverses a landscape with a number of nationally important heritage assets, including the Scone Palace garden and designed landscape, while a temporary access road, to facilitate the construction of the structure over the River Tay, will cross close to the Bertha Fort scheduled monument.

Actions Taken

As part of the impact assessment, a programme of fieldwork was undertaken to inform the Cultural Heritage chapter of the EIAR. AMS prepared tender documents for procuring the different elements of the fieldwork, and then managed the archaeological work including:

  • monitoring of ground investigations
  • geophysical survey
  • evaluation trenching.

AMS has also designed the mitigation programme for the route. This has included:

  • Negotiating the mitigation strategy with Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and Historic Environment Scotland regarding the most appropriate strategies to implement, both scheme-wide and site-specific.
  • Securing Scheduled Monument Consent for temporary works on the Bertha Roman Fort scheduled monument.
  • Preparing tender documents for procuring the main archaeological mitigation programme.

Project Outcomes

AMS has advised on potential routes and variations in the road design that have both removed and/or reduced potential impacts on nationally important heritage assets.

Working in close partnership with Sweco UK, AMS has submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment Report that Historic Environment Scotland and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust have been satisfied with. This has contributed to progression of the project in the planning process. AMS has also successfully obtained scheduled monument consent for temporary works within a scheduled monument.

Outreach

The mitigation programme designed by AMS makes provision for a package of public outreach, including access to volunteers and conducting open days, school visits, talks and publications.