Repairs to bridge closed for two years put on hold

Work to repair a road bridge in Aberdeenshire will be further delayed after engineers discovered it is in a worse condition than they previously believed.

Aboyne Bridge over the River Dee has been shut to vehicles for two years due to structural defects.

Councillors voted in March this year to carry out strengthening work, which would have enabled it to reopen with an 18 tonne weight limit.

However, Aberdeenshire Council said that was no longer be possible and has apologised to affected communities. Previously-rejected options, including a new bridge, will now be reconsidered.

The announcement means the bridge will remain closed to all traffic, but open to pedestrians and cyclists only for the foreseeable future.

It comes as one resident voiced his fear that the council's favoured repair would fail.

Graham Davidson, a retired oil industry worker lives in Birse, about two miles from Aboyne on the other side of the bridge.

Since the structure was closed in November 2023, he has had to take an 11-mile detour if he wishes to drive to the village.

Attempts have been made to help make the structure more accessible for users of all abilities to ensure they can access Aboyne.

Small ramps have been installed to help those who rely on wheelchairs to safely get up on the pavements and down onto the bridge.

But Mr Davidson said: "We've got Praesmohr care home up the road and retirees live there – one uses a mobility scooter and another a tricycle.

"I cycle down most days, I can manage it but it would be slightly trickier for others.

"I could be wrong, but my feeling is that the bridge won't open again and we are being softened up to get used to it."

In March, councillors were given five options for the bridge, ranging from doing nothing and leaving it as it is, to building a replacement structure.

The chosen option included strengthening, repairing and restoring the existing structure.

The work was expected to cost between £1.5m to £3m and, all going to plan, the bridge would have reopened in 2027.

But following further inspections of the structure, Aberdeenshire Council has now announced the planned repair will not be carried out and the reopening delayed.

Head of roads and infrastructure, Philip McKay, said officials were "disappointed" and will now revisit the alternative options.

He said he did know when any new repair work would begin, or when the bridge could potentially be reopened.

"We closed the bridge in November 2023 because the assessment at that stage threw up some serious issues that we had concerns over, particularly around the quality of some of the concrete," said Mr McKay.

"The last investigations we did threw up some issues, related mainly to the condition of the concrete on the deck being significantly worse than we had originally anticipated."

Options to be looked at include a full strengthening and repair of the crossing, which could cost up to £15m.

A temporary crossing could be built at an estimated £8m, or a new bridge constructed for about £30m.

"It's still the same aspiration that we can re-establish a link across the river at that location," said Mr McKay.

"At the moment, it's trying to understand which of the options that we have would be the best to achieve that."

The priority of work on more than 1,400 other bridges across the region will have to be reassessed in order to pay for any new project.

Aberdeenshire Council will hold more public drop-in sessions in Aboyne and Birse at a later date.

Reporting by local democracy journalist Kirstie Topp.