Around £5.7 million of Fife Council’s capital budget has been allocated to bridge works between now and 2025 – going some way to tackling a £21 million maintenance backlog.
Councillors on Fife’s executive committee discussed the fact that a number of bridges are below standard and need special measures to ensure they are safe to use – as reported earlier this week in The Courier.
Indeed, 55 bridges require either strengthening or replacement work at an estimated cost of £21 million, although resources remain insufficient to totally address the problem.
Highlighting the issue, Derek Crowe, senior manager for roads and engineering, confirmed that two in particular, namely the B981 Broad Street Railway Bridge in Cowdenbeath and the B9037 Gilanderson Railway Bridge in Torryburn, were in a very poor state, with the former said to be suffering from “significant” decay.
However, studies to examine options on how to deal with the problems identified have now been given the go ahead as part of a rolling programme of works covering the next decade or so.
“Within the backlog there are a few significant schemes that are outwith the availability of current resources and these two are a cause for concern,” he acknowledged.
“Both are potentially very expensive repair projects, but we will undertake feasibility studies to consider strengthening or replacement options.”
If the bridges need replaced, £3.2 million will have to be found to tackle the Cowdenbeath problem, while £2.6 million is needed for a replacement in Torryburn.
In addition to the feasibility studies, key priorities identified during 2016/17 include the infilling of the propped A917 Kilrenny Bridge, the replacement of the A913 Burnside Bridge, Newburgh, and concrete repairs and corrosion protection to the A91 New Bridge in Guardbridge.
Councillors asked whether or not there was scope for Network Rail to contribute to any works needed to the rail bridges in Cowdenbeath and Torryburn, although both are deemed to be the council’s responsibility.
There was also concern about work programmed for the A91 in Guardbridge, given that the roads in and around the area had been affected by diversions and traffic congestion due to work relating to the Green Energy Centre.
However, Murray Scott, structures lead professional, allayed some fears that the bridge would have to be closed later in the year.
“The bridge is susceptible to corrosion but the work should happen in an enclosure beneath the bridge – that shouldn’t cause any restrictions on the bridge itself,” he commented.
Mr Scott added that the bridge takes around 17,000 vehicle movements each day, making it one of the busiest in Fife.
