Final phase of £2.3 million Kincardine Bridge work starts next week

The work, with a value of around £170,000, starts on Wednesday June 5 and runs until Wednesday July 10. It includes the replacement of the road surfacing, bridge deck waterproofing and new expansion joints on the northern most viaduct span.

This Amey scheme is part of an on-going refurbishment programme of the Kincardine Bridge. To date, fifteen joint-to-joint spans of the bridge have been refurbished, investing over £2.3 million in improvement works on the Kincardine Bridge since 2015.

Undertaking this work now will ensure the continued safe and reliable operation of this important section of the A985 and reduces the need for more extensive maintenance in the future.

To allow this scheme to mobilise there will be a full night time carriageway closure on the A985 Kincardine Bridge, with a signed diversion route in operation, between 8pm and 6am, each night from Wednesday, June 5 to Saturday, June 8 and again on Saturday July 6 and Tuesday July 9.

During the full closure of the A985 Kincardine Bridge the signed diversion will be as follows:

A985 Eastbound traffic will be diverted onto the A876 Clackmannanshire Bridge via Higgins Neuk Roundabout.

At Kilbagie Roundabout, traffic will take the exit to join the A977 towards Kincardine. The Diversion will end at Longannet Roundabout and traffic should follow local signage to complete journey.

A985 Westbound traffic will follow the same diversion route but in the opposite direction.

From 6am on Saturday, June 8 until 8pm on Saturday, July 6 there will be 24-hour single lane closures on the A985 Kincardine Bridge with temporary traffic signals in place. Saturday, June 22 will be an exception from the full carriageway closure to allow for the switchover from the eastbound lane to the westbound lane and the diversion route will apply between 8pm on Saturday, June 22 and 6am on Sunday, June 23.

In addition, this scheme will require the partial 24-hour closure of the A876 North Approach Road, affecting the westbound right-turn towards Kincardine Bridge from 6am on Saturday, June 8 and on Saturday July 6.

Traffic will be diverted left via the A985 eastbound to Longannet Roundabout. From here, it will be able to join the A985 westbound towards Kincardine Bridge and diversion will end.

Eastbound traffic at Kincardine Bridge off-slip will also be affected from 6am on Saturday, June 8 until 6am on Sunday, June 23. Traffic will be diverted via the A985 to Longannet Roundabout where it will be able to join the A977 Toll Road towards Kincardine where diversion will end.

Bus operating companies affected by these works will also be instructed to follow the above diversion routes.

Works on the west footway will also take place during the first two weeks of the scheme requiring its closure, signage will be erected with pedestrians instructed to use the east footpath.

To allow this an additional pedestrian crossing will be situated on the A876 North Approach Road and a pedestrian phase will be incorporated into the temporary traffic light set-up. The east footway will always be open for the duration of the works to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge.

Traffic journey time monitoring equipment will be used to record any traffic delays through the works, with real-time updates provided to the travelling public through variable message signage.

Traffic delays are expected during construction, particularly at AM and PM peak times, with a maximum delay of 12 minutes anticipated. Road users are therefore asked to be patient during the works.

Cyclists will be instructed to dismount if using the footpaths across the bridge.

All these schemes are weather dependent and may be cancelled or rescheduled if weather conditions are not favourable.

Visit www.setrunkroads.co.uk for more information.