It shows colleagues from Laing O’Rourke, the Monklands Replacement Project’s construction partner, looking back at some of the “enabling works” on the vast area of land at Wester Moffat in Airdrie.

As sweeping drone footage illustrates progress across the site, Ben Warr, Structures Senior Engineer, describes moving earth from the higher end of the former farmland to the lower end, to build up a level platform for the hospital.

“We’re making big progress on site. Last year, we excavated nearly 300,000 cubic meters of soil – enough to fill 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools.”

Site Engineer Abby Cruickshank adds that levelling the ground has been a challenge as have old mine workings on part of the land.

“We’ve drilled 2,280 holes at a depth of around 20 meters. We used a total of 335 tons of grout to fill the holes and stabilise the ground.”

The video then moves away from construction to talk about Community Benefits, developed and implemented through the project team and Laing O’Rourke, with five key themes: economic; employment; training; environmental; community priorities.

“We’ve delivered over £135,000 through toy and clothes donations, local employment, education initiatives and much more. We’ve also employed nine graduates and eight apprentices.”

Laing O’Rourke Project Manager Gerry Vallianatos

Laing O’Rourke Project Manager Gerry Vallianatos, who is overseeing the site works, adds: “Last year, we installed the Immersive Suite at the existing hospital, carried out a scope of mine treatment and installed over five kilometres of fencing.

“All this to provide residents with state-of-the-art healthcare facilities – and that means a lot.”

Monklands Replacement Project Director Graeme Reid said: “This is the latest of our eye-catching videos, combining a bird’s eye view of work on the site with an informative summary from the Laing O’Rourke team of what has happened at Wester Moffat in the last year and more.”

The Scottish Government is now considering approval of the MRP’s Full Business Case. Approval would give the green light to the start of hospital construction, with a targeted opening in 2031.

The dedicated website – www.monklands.org – has full project information, including parking, public transport and new road provision for the hospital, which is planned to be the first in Scotland to be net zero carbon and fully digital.