Contract for bridge works published

Work to improve the A96 Inveramsay Bridge in Scotland is expected to start by the end of this year.  

The public notice for the main contract, which is worth around £11 million, has been published by Transport Scotland.

The works involve the construction of a new realigned section of the A96 trunk road and road bridge over the Aberdeen to Inverness railway. This will ensure free flowing traffic for road users of the trunk road.

These improvements will help to cut congestion, improve journey time reliability and improve traffic flow, as well as reduce the likelihood of railway bridge strikes.

Transport Minister Keith Brown (pictured) said: “This is further good news for road users in the north east. We have always aimed to get construction underway at Inveramsay Bridge by the end of 2014 and by starting the procurement process today we are ensuring that we remain on target.

“This is not an easy task as the scheme will involve complex engineering works during the construction phase. The appointed contractor will be required to build a new bridge structure over the existing railway as part of the new 1.5 km road. Currently, road users travel under the railway bridge.”

Construction works on site are expected to last for around a year.