Demolition of a crumbling road over rail bridge that threatens the safety of the East Coast Main Line through northern Scotland will take place at the earliest opportunity, Aberdeenshire Council has confirmed.
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The 170 year old Abbeyton bridge – close to the town of Fordoun – has been closed to traffic since the summer after inspections found serious failings. It is thought unfeasible to repair the structure and the decision has now been taken by the Council’s infrastructure services committee to go ahead with an emergency demolition.
“The costs associated with an unplanned closure of the railway line are huge and the only way to remove the risk is to remove the bridge, as it cannot be repaired,” said the committee’s chair Peter Argyle.
Any emergency closure of the East Coast Main Line could set the council back between £1M and £3M per day to cover disruption to rail services. This risk had to be weighed up against the cost of demolition, which is expected to be around £1M.
This figure represents more than a third of the councils £2.8M annual budget for bridges and other structures. As a result planned work on some other bridges in the county will be postponed.
Peter Argyle added: “We appreciate this decision impacts on road users and the nearby Castleton Farm Shop, but it has been taken purely in the interest of safety.”
Currently no decision has been taken as to whether Abbeyton Bridge should be replaced. Infrastructure services committee vice chair John Cox commented: “It’s important to realise that any proposed replacement is likely to run into millions of pounds, and take several years to plan, and there is no financial provision for this within current budgets.”
But the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Andrew Bowie urged swift action to deliver a replacement. “Public safety has to come first and the decision that has been taken is for the safety of road users as well as passengers,” he told TP Weekly News.
“But it is imperative for the council and Network Rail to provide a replacement as soon as possible so as to mitigate the adverse impact that this will have on local communities and businesses who are losing a key road in the area.”
Aberdeenshire Council could not confirm when the existing bridge is likely to be demolished.
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