Published: Wednesday, 8th October, 2008 12:30
Repairs carried out to Clackmannanshire Bridge
By Jamie MacDonald
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Repair work is carried out to one of the bridge's support legs.
Pic by: Jan van der Merwe
FEARS over the safety of the Clackmannanshire Bridge after a large crack appeared in one of the supporting legs have been eased by Transport Scotland.
A wide hole was left after a steel shutter was removed from the concrete support.
The gap was caused by air caught between the concrete and the steel leg creating a void.
Transport Scotland – the national transport agency – said that the leg would be fixed by the end of the month and this would not delay the opening of the bridge, scheduled for 19 November.
A spokesperson for Transport Scotland said, “During the removal of the steel temporary works that formed the shuttering and shaped the concrete piers, surface gaps were found in one of the bridge piers.
“These gaps are cosmetic and a relatively common occurrence when using concrete.
“The standard procedure for fixing this type of issue is to remove an area around the gap and replace it with more concrete.
“In this case, repair work is already underway and we expect it to be completed before the end of the month.”
The bridge has been built by contractors Morgan VINCI.
Councillor for West Fife Villages and Kincardine resident Willie Ferguson told the Advertiser that he had spoken to managers of the project who told him that these sort of incidents were not unusual and it would not pose a problem with the safety of the bridge.
Mr Ferguson added, “According to the engineers, it looks worse than it is because they had to dig out some of the concrete before they fill it in.
“It is a nuisance but the important thing is that it won’t affect the structure.”
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