Areas of Expertise
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Slurry Tanks
Design and construction of slurry tanks for a concrete batching plant. These enabled the separation and re-use of cement slurry, sand, gravel and water from waste concrete, transit mixers and yard washings.
Economic savings in water use and concrete raw materials, together with a reduced risk of environmental
pollution, were the result.
Glencruiten Earth Dam
Construction of an earth dam with geosynthetic clay membrane, to create a lake for environmental enhancement.
Earth Dams
An earth dam under construction in the Scottish Highlands to regulate farm water supplies affected by forestry development.
Adrian Laycock Ltd has carried out investigations, design, and construction
supervision for a number of small dams for flood control, farm and domestic water supply, micro
hydropower schemes, and amenity purposes.
Shellachan Dam, Argyll, Scotland
Rehabilitation of an old earth/rockfill dam using synthetic membranes.
The old dam leaked and was in danger of collapse. Rehabilitation
included reconstructing the embankment, sealing with Nicoflex membrane
and bentonite, and installing a 200mm diameter PE outlet pipe. The work
was completed in a week.
Glenfeochan Dam, Argyll, Scotland
Glenfeochan Dam was constructed in 2002, turning a midge-infested Argyll
bog into a beautiful lake.
Glenfeochan Dam starts filling.
The dam and lake from the air, and the spillway in operation.
Barmore Dam, Argyll, Scotland
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Barmore Dam in the Scottish Highlands is being constructed across a deep peat bog. This calls for some careful machine work and some innovative engineering, aided by the use of geogrid for soil reinforcement in the embankment. Pictures illustrate the dam through construction to completion. |
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Constructing a Small Lake, Argyll, Scotland
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Pictures show the construction of a small lake in Argyll, Scotland. After stripping the peat (top left), the main dam is formed with a clay core and peat shoulders. A sedimentation pond (top right) traps mud and silt from the excavation works to prevent contamination for downstream users. The picture at the bottom left shows the clay core, and the one bottom right shows the completed project. |
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Forestry Flood Alleviation
Forestry planting has had serious effects on the flow regimes and water quality of some Scottish rivers.
Adrian Laycock Ltd has carried out a number of Hydrological studies into the effects of forestry planting,
and has designed appropriate flood alleviation measures.
Low-cost River Crossing
A low-cost road crossing over a highland river. The structure is designed to submerge in heavy floods.
Reed Bed Construction
Reed beds are an environmentally sound means of purifying effluent from septic tanks or industrial, agricultural or domestic sewage. The beds shown under construction above, are for treating a million gallons per year of farmyard slurry from a livestock market in the West of Scotland. The options for disposal of waste were very restricted due to the absence of any filtering soils. The three stage vertical flow installation is constructed floating on peat and supported by geotextile. The picture below right shows the reed beds one year after construction.
Reed beds under construction for a private house are shown below. They provide secondary treatment of sewage by taking effluent from a septic tank and passing it through a two-stage vertical flow process. With this form of construction they can be made to any shape.
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Left: A reed bed in an urban setting treating rainfall runoff from a main road. |
Solar Energy
The utilisation of Solar energy is incorporated into all buildings designed by us. Warm air from beneath the roofing slates is circulated into the building using solar powered fans, and warm water from solar collector panels is used for underfloor heating and as a base for domestic hot water. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Scotland offers great potential for economic savings using solar, since there is normally a high heating load coinciding with high insolation during spring and autumn. Every building should incorporate solar energy systems.
Installing solar collectors in the Scottish Highlands.
Wind Energy
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Using a helicopter to install wind turbine foundations in the Scottish
Highlands. Below: The completed wind turbine. | Small wind turbines producing up to 6 kilowatts are becoming increasingly popular in remote areas such as the Scottish Highlands. We are involved in several projects which will utilise wind as an adjunct to solar energy. |
Small Scale Hydro Power
We are actively engaged in the design and construction of several hydropower
schemes in the scottish highlands. These projects are in environmentally
sensitive areas and require extreme care in design and construction. This
access road to a remote damsite is skillfully constructed to prevent soil
erosion and to blend in with the surrounding terrain.
We can carry out initial appraisals very rapidly, to assess the potential
power yield of small rivers and streams. If a realistic potential is
identified, the follow-up process involves environmental and hydrological
studies, economic analysis and engineering design of dams, pipelines and
associated structures.
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Coignafearn Hydro Power Scheme
Coignafearn Hydro Power Scheme under construction in the Scottish Highlands.
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Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are becoming an accepted method of reducing energy costs, and we have incorporated ground-sourced heat pumps into the design of houses and
hydro power schemes.
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River Training and Flood Control
River bank strengthening, channel improvements and flood control measures
have to be sensitively designed and carefully carried out to minimise disruption to sensitive environments.
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