A9 Kessock Bridge maintenance works start Monday 21 March for ten weeks

Issued by BEAR Scotland

The A9 Kessock Bridge is soon to benefit form a £750,000 investment from Transport Scotland for essential bridge maintenance work due to get underway this month.

The works will involve the installation of eight new technical components, known as tuned mass dampers, under the main span of the bridge. The dampers are designed to minimise oscillation on the bridge deck due to the effects of wind and traffic. These new components will replace the previous dampers which have reached the end of their design life.

The bridge maintenance scheme will improve the safety of this section of the A9.

The works will take place underneath the bridge from the sea with engineers working from a platform anchored under the bridge. All material will be delivered via a vessel moored under the structure, with components being lifted and lowered from the platform. As none of  the works will take place on the carriageway, there will be no traffic management on the bridge and it will remain fully open to motorists. 

Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative, said: “These essential bridge maintenance works will allow for eight components underneath the bridge to be replaced as they have reached the end of their design life, and the new installations will help ensure the bridge remains steady during high winds.

“We’ve specifically planned these works to have no impact on motorists or pedestrians and cyclists using the footpaths and cyclepaths across the bridge as they will take place underneath the bridge from a vessel moored in the sea below.

“The investment from Transport Scotland will ensure that the bridge remains in a safe working order for years to come.”

Real time traffic information is available from Traffic Scotland on http://www.trafficscotland.org/ or twitter @trafficscotland.