Trainee Blog 2- Creag Bheag

By Josh

Trainees on Creag Bheag

During an eight week period the team of trainees constructed an upland footpath on Creag Bheag which is situated just outside the village of Kingussie.  Everyone was in good spirit as it would be our first official work site and the fact our office was outdoors with stunning views made everyone that little bit more eager to get out there and crack on. As always though, there were a lot of boring health and safety regulations we had to go through before we could actually start work, but needs must. Once everyone had been briefed, instructions given and PPE on, we enthusiastically got to work.

Because we had previously practised constructing various stone structures that are necessary for an upland footpath, we all had a good idea of the preparation needed and what the finished product needed to do in order to be successful. Due to the great weather we had (rain being a rare sight), we enjoyed every minute of working in tropical Scotland whilst getting a free tan! The most used structure on our stretch of footpath was the Waterbar, where we made 10 effective bars. The water bars and cross drains are put in across the width of the path to stop water from flowing down and eroding the stretch of aggregate path that we constructed. As well as the water bars and cross drains, step risers and pitching were put in place to reduce the gradient of the path to make the walk more comfortable for all the users of this path.

In the 8 weeks of work we did up Creag Bheag 161 metres of aggregate path, 10 water bars, 4 cross drains, 7 step risers and 33 metres of pitching were successfully and effectively constructed by the team to a very high level in my opinion. It took great team work, hard work and dedication to complete the job but due to the beautiful surroundings, good weather and closeness of the team the job was completed and everyone highly enjoyed themselves!