Unveiling of Walker’s Way plaque at third Don crossing

14 October 2016

A ceremony was held today to unveil a plaque on Walker’s Way, to commemorate Balfour Beatty worker Ian Walker who died while the third Don crossing was being built.

The footpath which runs alongside the bank of the River Don as part of the infrastructure work carried out for the £22.3million third Don crossing was named in Mr Walker’s honour.

Mr Walker’s children, Kirsty, Steven, and Andrew were there for the ceremony along with other family members and his Balfour Beatty co-workers.

Kirsty said: “Our Dad was a good solid family man. He meant a lot to many people and is very much missed. We are very grateful to Balfour Beatty, the Council and the local community for honouring his memory.”

Aberdeen City Council Leader Councillor Jenny Laing said: “We were honoured to name the path in Mr Walker’s memory and the ceremony to unveil the plaque is a fitting tribute.”

George Hood, Balfour Beatty’s Regional Managing Director, said: “We are pleased to see this tribute being rightfully paid to Ian Walker who was a highly respected colleague. We were pleased that we were able to join with the family and officially name Walkers Way in Ian’s honour.”

The third Don crossing, which connects Grandholm with Tillydrone, involved construction of two major bridges, with the first being a 26m skew span reinforced concrete bridge over the Mill Lade at Grandholm Village and the second a 90m span steel box girder bridge over the River Don.

The project includes 1.5 miles of new roads on both sides and also includes new cycleways and paths. A ceremony is to be held soon to name the crossing the Diamond Bridge, as overwhelmingly chosen by the pupils of neighbouring Riverbank and Danestone primary schools.

The third Don crossing was officially opened in June and was designed toconnect with the benefits from other major infrastructure projects worth £516million transforming moving around the city including the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR/B-T), the Berryden Corridor, and the A96 Dyce Park and Choose.