19 March 2021

Views sought on Aberdeenshire Council bridges prioritisation process

Aberdeenshire Council is seeking the views of the public as it looks to develop a policy and procedure for the prioritisation of its bridge repairs and renewals.

The local authority is responsible for 3,500 miles of public road, carried by 1,308 bridges, which equates to a bridge approximately every 2.7 miles of road.

Nearly 70% of those bridges are more than 100 years old and with such an ageing bridge stock there is now a significant programme of works required to be carried out over the next 10 years.

In addition, a greater frequency of severe weather events has increased the number of bridge closures and restrictions due to flood damage.

The optimum investment necessary to maintain, repair and renew bridges over the next 20 years is projected to be £102 million – or around £5.1 million per year.

Aberdeenshire Council has now devised a draft policy and associated procedure to show how required works should be prioritised across the region and how available funding should be allocated.

Presentations around the prioritisation programme are currently being made to elected members on all six area committees.

The public engagement exercise – which involves maps, historical information on bridges and roads and a short survey, as well as the draft policy and procedure - will be available via the council’s Public Consultations webpage from this Saturday (March 20) until Monday, April 12 at https://engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/