Road Schemes & Linears

Compilation image showing (1) Map of the route of the new M74 motorway. (2) Picture of Disha Parkash aged 16. (3) Dixons No.5 Coal pit at Goven Iron Works

M74 Motorway Completion Project, Glasgow

PCA and Headland Archaeology set up a Joint Venture (HAPCA) to undertake the archaeology of the M74 Completion in Glasgow, which at £5m (total archaeological contract value) was the largest archaeological project ever undertaken in Scotland. HAPCA was the main contractor responsible for all aspects of the contemporary scheme including plant, H&S, environmental monitoring and mitigation, contamination, air quality, watching brief, evaluation, excavation, public archaeology and post-excavation. The successful, and on time, completion of works to date was ensured by the early legal agreements as to roles and supply of resources, a commitment by both parties to ensure the success of the project, a joint responsibility for all aspects of the work and a flexibility from all parties to deal with unforeseen circumstances. The PCA project manager was Peter Moore.

The two year programme of public archaeology work, run in partnership with Culture and Sport Glasgow (former Glasgow Museums) for HAPCA has included:

Twelve site open days
Two public events for the client - gallery and exhibition openings
School participation on site
A staffed visitor centre at the Scotland Street Museum (exhibitions, hands on activities and archaeology in action)
Oral history programme
Outreach and community group projects
Lectures and workshops undertaken by the field team for the public
Archive research accessible to the public
Simulated archaeological digs
Time capsules
A web site: www.transportscotland.gov.uk

The M74 project completes the missing link between the end of the M74 at Fullarton Road Junction near Carmyle and the M8 motorway west of Kingston Bridge near Glasgow city centre.

Aerial Photograph over Kinning Street. The Road on the right is West Street, and to the south is the main Glasgow to Paisley Railway.

Kingston Biscuit Factory. the rounded brick structure is a flue which moved hot air around the factory to heat different ovens. On either side of the flue are the remains of different floor surfaces.

Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor

In the early 21st century Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor (DETC) was identified as a key transport scheme for North East England. The 3km DETC route runs due eastfrom Albert Hill on the eastern edge of Darlington, following the line of the historic Stockton and Darlington Railway, to join the A66(T). Provision of a single carriageway road along this route was seen as vital step in helping the economic regeneration of the eastern part of the town by improving access to industrial land and tackling traffic congestion on existing roads.

PCA undertook an evaluation of the easternmost portion of the route in 2006, the work being required as a planning condition; geophysical survey was followed by archaeological investigation of 17 trial trenches. The work indicated that the land along the route had been utilised for agricultural purposes during the medieval and post-medieval periods. A flint blade of Mesolithic or Early Neolithic date recovered during the work hinted at earlier exploitation of the landscape.

The layout of archaeological evaluation trenches along the portion of the DETC route investigated by PCA