ABOYNE Bridge in Aberdeenshire is to undergo limited strengthening and repair to enable it to re-open with an 18-tonne vehicle limit.
A structural assessment of the crossing in October 2024 confirmed that it was not strong enough to carry vehicles, with £1.5-3 million plans now being approved to see vertical pins installed in the structure, alongside the removal and replacement of the existing concrete deck.
Members of the Aberdeenshire Council Marr area committee were told that the project is expected to take 22 months to deliver from the date of their approval and that, once completed, the bridge would accommodate all anticipated emergency vehicles, tractors with smaller trailers, and two-axle delivery lorries.
However, heavier vehicles – including articulated lorries which can weigh as much as 44 tonnes – will no longer be permitted to travel across the structure.
Following various structural investigations last year, a detailed options appraisal was drawn up by environmental and engineering consultants WSP and five options offered to the council. These ranged from undertaking no work and only maintaining the bridge for active travel uses to the delivery of an all-new replacement bridge at an estimated cost of £30 million. It was acknowledged by council officers that all the options came with varying degrees of risk and that even the preferred option would require a challenging design.
Two community drop-in sessions held earlier this year presented the five options for the bridge, with a wide range of views from residents and businesses being reported back to the council’s roads and structures teams.
At the Marr area committee meeting, one Birse resident addressed councillors to stress the acknowledged risks involved in proceeding with the limited strengthening option. He urged councillors to adopt the option for full strengthening and more extensive repairs at an estimated cost of £10-£15 milllion which would open up the bridge to all traffic.
While accepting that other options might be preferable, councillors stressed the cost of delivery of larger-scale projects in the face of ever-tightening council budgets would be ‘prohibitive’. As a result, it was unanimously agreed it was imperative to get the bridge fixed and opened as soon as possible to reunite two communities which have become divided for so long.
Councillor Geva Blackett, chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Marr area committee, said, “First and foremost, as someone who has experience of life on the wrong side of a closed bridge, I absolutely sympathise with the residents of Birse and Aboyne who continue to face many challenges during the current closure of Aboyne Bridge – and I know colleagues on Marr Area Committee do too. However, it is critical that the council carefully considers all the information from the specialist investigations which have been undertaken to-date to ensure we have 100% oversight of the structural requirements, the associated costs, and the anticipated timescale to get the bridge reopened.
“I believe that in choosing Option 2, we have agreed a pragmatic solution to a very challenging issue, incorporating a healthy degree of sustainability of the crossing, its built heritage and enhancing its lifespan.”
The five options were as follows:
Option 1: No works undertaken. Active travel for pedestrians and cyclists would remain across the bridge. Minor repair works would be required to reinstate surfacing to allow temporary fencing and steel plates to be removed. Vehicles would not be able to use the bridge.
Option 2: Limited strengthening and repair (Estimated cost: £1.5-£3 million). Vertical ‘pins’ would be installed in the structure, with removal and replacement of the existing concrete deck. The works would allow vehicles to use the bridge upto a capacity of 18-tonne including emergency vehicles. This is the preferred option for consideration.
Option 3: Full strengthening and repair (Estimated cost: £10 – £15 million). A substantial temporary structure would be installed under the existing bridge to allow more extensive repairs to the critical elements of the main span, and replacement of the bridge deck. The temporary structure would be removed on conclusion of the repair works.
Option 4: Construction of a single lane modular structure next to the existing bridge (Estimated cost: £5 – £8 million). A semi-permanent bridge would be built to provide a route for all traffic types under a traffic light arrangement, while the existing bridge would remain open for active travel.
Option 5: Construction of a permanent replacement bridge (Estimated cost: £30 million). The existing bridge would be demolished and replaced on the same site, subject to listed building consent.
