Remember the problem about the water being able to leave the SUDS pond? And how Scottish Water were not allowing it to go into the surface water system in Hamilton Drive? And the plan to take a pipe right across the Figgate Park to put the water in the burn? Well, those plans are off.
Instead, the clever engineers realised there was an existing drain on site, that used to serve the old St John’s School. Last week a big, big hole was dug, roughly where the school boiler room was, and three large concrete drums stacked up to take water right down – a big grille sits on top. A shallow swale is being dug along the Hamilton Terrace boundary and underneath that is a big brown pipe taking the water out of the SUDS pond and bringing it back, southwards.
Almost in a trice, the problem is gone, the water management is complete, without bothering Scottish Water at all. Now all effort is going into mining the mountain of top soil along Duddingston Road and spreading it across the site. Then the surface is to be prepared for sowing the meadow grass and it will look like a park.
The timetable has been extend by two weeks, which we calculate takes the completion date to round 24 June. Well, almost, as we understand the skating facility will come later in the year once the specialist contractor is available. The dust will settle, the grass will grow and the ecology return to nature having been buried under tarmac for 90 or so years.
