by Vivienne Nicol, Evening Times
Less than three years ago work began on a derelict piece of land
in Glasgow's West End, where the rivers Clyde and Kelvin meet.
This year the workers will pack up their tools and hand over the
keys of the new £74million Riverside Museum, which will replace the
existing Museum of Transport at the Kelvin Hall.
Early work in 2007 involved replacing quay walls and excavating
6000 tonnes of material - the weight of 700 double-decker
buses.
Massive underground trenches were created to take all the
services for the new building and by May 2008 a faint outline had
emerged of what would become the Riverside.
It would take another few months before the public would see the
steelwork of the structure rising from the ground and begin to get
a sense of the new building.
Around 100 workers toiled, sometimes in atrocious conditions, to
get the 2500 tonnes of steel that make up the skeleton of the
complex structure into place.
One of the worst spells of weather was in September 2008, when
it rained incessantly for days.
Jim Ward, construction manager of main contractor BAM, said at
the time: "We were pouring concrete and erecting steel in
horrendous conditions and the guys had mud up to their knees."
By January last year, the first of several layers of what would
become the walls of the new museum had begun to be erected and by
June the final piece of steelwork was fitted into the main
structure.
The design by Zaha Hadid, one of the world's leading architects,
required the building to be clad in zinc and by November that job
was almost half complete.
Meanwhile, work continued in other areas and by the end of the
year, the new museum was wind and watertight and fitted with
massive floor to ceiling windows, giving stunning views along the
Clyde.
The building is due to be finished in August, when it will be
handed over to Culture and Sport Glasgow.
Staff will then begin the massive task of moving 3000 exhibits -
trains, trams, buses, cars and other artefacts - into their new
home, a project that will take until spring 2011.
The existing Transport Museum is the second most popular free
attraction in Scotland, beaten only by the Kelvingrove Art Gallery
and Museum.
Visitor numbers for its replacement are expected to hit around
one million a year, ensuring it holds on to that title.
Reproduced with the permission of the Herald and Times
Group.