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Edinburgh is recognized for its history; Edingburgh castle, Arthur's Seat, the Royal Mile together with new historic additions such as the Scottish Parliament Building. Among its lesser known historic structures began construction in 1826. The construction of a monument honoring the casualties from the Napoleonic Wars began on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill. The structure was to be a £42,000 likeness of the Parthenon, overlooking Scotland’s first city. Notwithstanding attracting wealthy backers such as Sir Walter Scott, the venture was under-funded from the start. Having used just the best supplies, the contractors ran out of funds in 1829 and building stopped, not to ever restart. Since then, the half-completed pillars which loom above the city centre have been called ‘Edinburgh’s Disgrace’. Fast-forward virtually two hundred years: a 2006 scheme proposes a city-wide tram link that will travel from Edinburgh Airport through the city centre to the redeveloping coastal port of Newhaven. It was originally priced at £498 million and scheduled to be finished in 2010; the newest calculations had the budget at £776 million and escalating, having a end date of 2014. The scheme has been turbulent from the outset. Alfred McAlpine (now owned by Carillion) were contracted to redirect utility pipes and cables along the route. These lengthy works resulted in many delays and disruptions to civic infrastructure, and local organisations proclaimed losses of untold thousands in dropped earnings as a consequence of shut thoroughfares. Additionally there is talk of claims and counterclaims amongst contractors and also changes in consultants engaged in the scheme. When the tracks were put down, again subject to setbacks, more issues then followed: as the costs expanded, the proposed route was decreased, no longer progressing to the seafront. To make things even more difficult, government, council and building firms clashed over the new terminal point as the fiasco rolled on. Building company Bilfinger Berger entered a dispute with council-run consortium partners Trams In Edinburgh, alleging that they were asked to pay for work above their contracted scope. The local authority opted to terminate the route at Haymarket to remove costs. However, the government threatened to hold back funding should the route stop short of St Andrew Square, forcing a very embarrassing double U-turn by the council. First Minister Alex Salmond recently guaranteed a public inquiry into the debacle, however, many residents are already labelling the project a ‘disgrace’. Over-budget, unfinished and extremely humiliating on the capital, you could be forgiven for believing that Edinburgh’s rulers have forgotten about their own civic history. Go to constructionbytes.com - construction news and resources for more information on this and other aspects of the construction industry.
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