21st Century Technology for the Royal Mile
Mortars and grouts from ScotAsh have helped preserve the unique character of Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile - while ensuring its famous natural stone sett surface benefits from the application of 21st Century technology.
The Royal Mile, in the heart of the city's Old Town, is part of a designated World Heritage Site. The street links the landmarks of Holyrood Palace and the new Scottish Parliament complex with Edinburgh Castle to the west. Flanked by historic buildings including St Giles Cathedral, which was founded in 854, the Royal Mile is a busy commercial area and a major tourist attraction.
In 2006, City of Edinburgh Council undertook a major £1.5 million reconstruction of the High Street section - about 300 metres - between two major intersections passing the Cathedral, Edinburgh City Chambers and the Sheriff Court.
The project was aimed at preventing further damage to the road surface, avoiding any future need for unplanned emergency repairs and allowing the permanent pedestrianisation of the section, which is actively used during Edinburgh's internationally-acclaimed Festival and Fringe.
The reconstruction, which began in January 2006, required raising the existing carriageway to the level of the pavements, while ensuring the character of the street was retained through the reuse of thousands of original granite stone setts, or cobbles.
Historic Scotland, Edinburgh World Heritage Trust and Conservation Planning approved the plan. Proficio Technology were consulting engineers for the work while main contractors were Land Engineering.
Bedding and grouting the granite setts was a critical part of the Royal Mile project - and the Sika Trojan Paving System, developed and manufactured by ScotAsh, provided an ideal solution.
Specifically developed for stone roadways and footways, the unique system has been developed through extensive research and proven in field trials. The Sika Trojan Paving System has been used successfully in a number of other public realm programmes, including the Laganside regeneration in Belfast, and exemplar projects such as East London Street, Edinburgh.
City of Edinburgh Councillor Andrew Burns, Executive Member for Transport, said: "Improving the historic cobbled street will give the Royal Mile the environment that it deserves."
Download the Royal Mile Case Study here
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