PRESS RELEASE
5 August 2013
New Welsh highway receives sustainability award
(click to view case study)
Wrexham Western Gateway has been awarded a certificate of excellence by CEEQUAL (the sustainability awards, rating and assessment scheme for civil engineering), which recognises the commitment of the civil engineering industry in achieving and demonstrating sustainability.
The Gateway, a highway improvement scheme, improves access to Wrexham and the local hospital, as well as opening up land for new development. CEEQUAL awarded the highway as ‘excellent’, designating the project as having achieved ‘high environmental, economic and social performance’, on the basis of the project team’s commitment to carrying out all work with a focus on sustainability and high levels of community liaison.
The client and designers – in-house consultancy and contractor at Wrexham Council, Alun Griffiths (Contractor) Ltd - and Wrexham Councillor, Neil Rogers were presented with the award by Chairman of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Wales Cymru North Wales Branch, Mark Valentine and former ICE President and Chairman of CEEQUAL, Richard Coackley (pictured above).
A plaque was also unveiled by the Welsh Minister Edwina Hart AM, Minister for Economy Science and Transport, and Lesley Griffiths AM, Assembly Member for Wrexham & Minister for Local Government & Government Business, marking the opening of the gateway.
Commenting on the achievement and opening of the gateway, Mark Valentine, said: “The scheme has transformed local access into Wrexham and will enable future development and better access into the Wrexham Maelor Hospital. I’m pleased to see such a high CEEQUAL excellent award and how well the local community were consulted during the project.”
Richard Coackley added: “The Western Gateway project was a pleasure for CEEQUAL to assess and the CEEQUAL Verifier specifically mentioned the Project Team were very organised, with clear evidence and all queries responded to efficiently. There were a lot of good points, but the area that really stood out to the CEEQUAL Verifier was the relations with local community and stakeholders.”
The Lead Member for Environment at Wrexham, Councillor Bob Dutton OBE - a chartered civil engineer himself – was also present: “I am personally delighted this Wrexham Council project has received such a high level of recognition for its quality and undoubtedly it will encourage our engineers and specialists to seek awards for other schemes in due course.” he said.
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Note to Editors
CEEQUAL is the sustainability assessment, rating and awards scheme for civil engineering. Its development was led by the ICE and it is now managed jointly by Crane Environmental and CIRIA. The Scheme provides a rigorous and comprehensive sustainability rating system for project and contract teams, celebrating the commitment – and demonstration – of the civil engineering industry to achieving high environmental, economic and social performance.
Awards are made to projects in which the clients, designers and contractors go beyond the legal and environmental minima to achieve distinctive standards of environmental performance. Since its launch in 2003, 273 Awards have been made, and the total construction value of the 476 Applications received, that have been or are being assessed, is over £25 billion.
ICE
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) was founded in 1818 to ensure professionalism in civil engineering.
It represents 85,000 qualified and student civil engineers in the UK and across the globe and has over 3,600 members in Wales.
ICE has long worked with the governments of the day to help it to achieve its objectives, and has worked with industry to ensure that construction and civil engineering remain major contributors to the UK economy and UK exports.
For further information visit: www.ice.org.uk/wales
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Contact:
Keith Jones, Director ICE Wales Cymru
[email protected]
tel 029 2063 0561/07827 303312