Dalgety Bay Remediation, Scotland

We have safely restored access to Dalgety Bay for the local community in Fife for the first time in over a decade.

We were appointed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), to remove radioactive particles from the beach and foreshore at Dalgety Bay, preventing future contamination and making the beach fully accessible to the public for the first time in over 10-years.

Radioactive material was first discovered on the foreshore at Dalgety Bay in 1990 during routine monitoring. It was determined that the contamination originated from the residue of radium-coated instrument panels from military aircraft that were incinerated and buried at the end of World War II. Since 2021, our teams have worked diligently sifting through 10,000m3 of sand and soil – the equivalent of four Olympic swimming pools of material – to identify particles of radium-226 and its radionuclides. 

To facilitate the removal of the contaminated particles from the beach, our works included:

  • Removing higher-activity radium-226 particles and 8 tonnes of asbestos material from the foreshore areas.
  • Conducting limited re-profiling of the foreshore and implementing a geotextile membrane and rock armour cover system to isolate any remaining radium contamination.
  • Demolishing the existing jetty and slipways at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club to facilitate screening for radioactive particles in materials.
  • Constructing a replacement jetty and slipway to ensure that higher activity sources are no longer being eroded and washed onto the beach.

6,000+

radium 226- particles removed

2,000

concrete units constructed

10,000m3

of sand and soil sifted

30,000t

of locally sourced rock armour placed

Innovative and sustainable solutions  

Dalgety Bay is home to wading birds during the winter months which restricted our ability to carry out work between October and April. To overcome this challenge, we established an in-house pop-up facility at a nearby pre-casting yard to cast concrete units throughout the winter, before gaining access to the site again in spring. Over two winter seasons, we successfully constructed 2,000 concrete units of various shapes, each weighing up to 15 tonnes, for the new slipways at the Dalgety Bay Sailing Club. 

To minimise disruption to residents and road users during our works, we utilised coastal locations and barges for material delivery by sea. As a result, we avoided approximately 2000 round trips by road wagons over the construction period, equivalent to about 22 vehicle movements per day. This approach not only reduced our carbon footprint but also contributed to the economic growth of the local community by using a local business within our existing supply chain ecosystem. Additionally, we arranged for the reopening of a previously mothballed quarry in the same location as our pre-casting facility. This allowed us to meet all our aggregate requirements efficiently by directly transporting aggregate from the quarry floor to the loading jetty, eliminating the need to use public roads and further minimising disruption to residents while reducing our carbon footprint. 

During high tide, the barges were floated into the bay and allowed to settle on the beach. This ensured efficient offloading of materials onto the shore and their subsequent transportation to adjacent stockpiles at the worksite. Additionally, our site in Inverkeithing, equipped with a loading jetty, facilitated the loading of precast concrete sections and aggregates onto the barges for transport. 

To further enhance our efforts to reduce our carbon emissions, we also implemented the use of EcoNet technology in our Ecosense cabins to efficiently manage peak energy demands, optimise energy usage and minimise waste. 

Creating a positive legacy   

Our social impact team's community-focused approach has ensured that we have left a positive legacy in Dalgety Bay. Through collaboration with Plastic Free Dalgety Bay, we provided local primary schools with litter grabbers, gloves, and high-visibility vests so that children could safely participate in litter picking activities and contribute to wider plastic pollution clean-up efforts within the community.  

Alongside this, our team supported the Dalgety Bay 10k race and raised funds for the Forth Bridges Rotary campaign to end Polio by providing water coolers, water, toilet facilities pedestrian barriers and high-visibility vests for the event.