At the moment it is just a massive building site like so many
others along the banks of the Clyde.
But within weeks, the public will see the first steelwork of an
iconic world-class building rising from the ground.
The £74million Riverside Museum, which will replace the
Transport Museum in the West End, will not open until the summer of
2011.
But 100 people are on site completing the groundwork necessary
before the stunning structure by architect Zaha Hadid can begin to
take shape.
The main work started on March 3 this year and involved
excavating 6000 tonnes of material - the weight of 700 double
decker buses.
It has been stockpiled on site while it is tested to see if it
can be used in the project.
Jim Ward, construction manager for contractor HBG, is
responsible for ensuring one of the largest museum developments in
Britain goes according to plan.
He said: "We have created big mountains of earth on site and are
doing chemical analysis to check if the material is suitable for
re-use.
"It is better for the council and the environment if the
material is re-usable."
Before work started, a site inspection was carried out by a
structural engineer to establish exactly how far HBG would have to
drill to find rock.
Once that was done, a carpet of stone was laid to support the
drilling rigs needed to drive a staggering 1000 piles 20 metres
into the ground.
They were filled with 1200 cubic meters of concrete and will
support the ground floor slab of the new building.
Workers are now creating huge underground trenches which will
conceal all the ventilation, mechanical and electrical services
needed in the hi-tech museum.
Mr Ward said: "People passing the site will not see much because
we are still working at underground level creating the trenches
which will conceal all the services.
"Because they will all be underground, inside will have a very
sleek architectural form."
The building site where the Clyde and the River Kelvin meet is
the size of almost three football pitches, although the museum
itself will be around the size of one pitch.
Around 1000 tonnes of steel in reinforced concrete is currently
on site of which 300 tonnes has already been installed into the
ground floor slab and trenches.
Despite the massive amount of work going on, the public are not
likely to notice much happening until the first steel work rises
from the ground in early September.
Mr Ward said: "The steel framework will take us all the way
through to May of next year."
The end of August 2010 is the target for finishing building work
but it will take another year to fit it out.
HBG was the main contractor for the £35m revamp of Kelvingrove
and the £16m improvement work carried out at the City Halls.
But Mr Ward admitted the highly unusual design of the Riverside
Museum will present a challenge for him and his team, partly
because of the scale and size of the roof.
He said: "A building like this could only be designed with the
aid of a computer so it would not have been possible to build
anything like it in the past.
"It is a 21st century design and will be an iconic building -
something Glasgow can be proud of."
The museum will house more than 3000 objects and is expected to
attract more than 500,000 visitors each year.
Reproduced with the permission of The Evening Times(Glasgow) ©
Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd.