Peterhead port bosses have awarded the first contracts for their £40million quayside expansion plans.
Design and management work will be carried out by civil engineering consultancy RPS Group and architectural company Arch Henderson, the Press and Journal can reveal.
Peterhead Port Authority (PPA) chief executive John Wallace said: “Both firms are among the best in their fields and are well-equipped to provide the high level of technical expertise required.
In addition, both project managers have an in-depth knowledge of Peterhead and the operations of a busy fishing port.”
The contract values were not disclosed, but they mark a key stage in PPA’s plans to keep the Buchan port busy for years to come.
Proposed developments include the deepening of both the north and south harbours – nearly doubling their depth to more than 21 feet – and their approaches to provide unrestricted access and berthing in safe, weather-protected inner basins.
PPA also wants to build a new fish market on the site of the harbour’s former Greenhill selling facility.
Europe’s biggest white-fish port can currently handle up to 5,500 boxes for fish, but the new market would raise this to more than 9,000.
A larger fish market is seen as central to meeting future demand following a recent increase in landings and encouraging news about the health of some key stocks.
If 25% funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund is secured early in 2015, work on the overall project could start next June and be completed before the end of 2016.
The port’s bosses have already made progress towards a harbour revision order and environmental impact assessment.
Oxfordshire-based RPS, which employs about 5,000 people globally, will carry out design work for the harbour deepening scheme
Arch Henderson – operating from offices in Aberdeen, Thurso, Orkney, Shetland, Dundee, Glasgow and the Falklands – will focus on the new fish market.
David McBain, Arch Henderson architectural planner, said: “We have a long working association with the port and were the architects for the current market on Merchant’s Quay, so being invited to design the new market is extremely pleasing.
“We have a broad experience of facilities for the fishing industry and have worked on a number of similar projects across the UK.
“We look forward to bringing our expertise to this project and delivering a market that will enhance Peterhead’s position as one of the major fishing ports in Europe.”