Facts and figures

Some facts and figures for the completed M74 Completion Scheme:

Over four and a half million man hours of work have been deployed on the scheme (workforce numbers peaked at around 900 people on site). The majority of jobs went to local people.

One million tonnes of earthworks excavated

Nearly 500 concrete beams used on the route

34 new/refurbished hi-tech gantries

8 miles of stone columns

280,000 tonnes of pavement (blacktop– the equivalent weight of nearly four QE2’s, the Clyde-built ocean liner)

24 miles of drainage and culverts

24,000 tonnes of low noise surfacing used

70,000 cubic metres of structural concrete used

24,000 tonnes of structural steel used – equivalent to the amount of steel used to construct Heathrow’s Terminal 5 or 148 Jumbo Jets

100 miles of piling - Glasgow to Edinburgh and back

166 miles of vertical drains - approx distance  Glasgow to Inverness

500 miles of drilling for mining consolidation - approx distance from Glasgow to Plymouth

Over 6000, the equivalent to the population of Ayrshire town, Stewarton, site safety inductions have been given to people attending site

The Contractor has engaged actively with numerous local primary and secondary schools on a number of areas, such as construction careers and Health and Safety as well as welcoming well in excess of 100 visiting groups to site, including Scottish and overseas universities

The main span of the Port Eglinton Viaduct comprised two 4,200 tonnes launch sections which were pulled into place using a single, 27 strand cable. This was  achieved over successive overnight possessions of the West Coast Mainline below, in February 2010 (westbound carriageway) and June 010 (eastbound carriageway)

2,500,000 tonnes of fill material has been incorporated in the embankments, including recycled materials.
The scheme traverses areas of formerly heavy industry and contaminated soils. The scheme will have a positive effect on these areas. Approx 58,000 cubic metres of contaminated material treated on site and made safe

The use of recycled materials, including some 65,000 tonnes of recycled fill from nearby sources (eg. reconstructed M74 motorway at Lesmahagow, and surplus material from the Cambuslang Investment Park), and 500,000 tonnes of recycled aggregate from demolition and other works in and around Glasgow, will minimise the impact on the environment.