Kincardine Bridge: lane closures as £16m project to replace 80m section starts

Balfour Beatty is at the helm of the £16.85m Transport Scotland-funded project to replace an 80-metre section of the bridge by getting the site compound set up.

The two-year project involves construction of a temporary bridge, the demolition of the bridge’s southern piled viaduct and then replacing it with a new reinforced concrete structure. Throughout this month, the site compound areas around Higgins Neuk are being set up which will form the base for the construction processes.

From Monday, May 15 off peak lane closures on weekdays between 9:30am and 3.30pm will be in place on the A876 southbound towards Higgins Neuk roundabout for three weeks. This is to allow a dedicated safe, site access road to be created.

Craig Hunter, project manager said: “It’s great to get this project underway. The first activity that people will start seeing is the creation of a site compound close to the bridge to ensure the smooth, safe running of this major project. A core objective of the project is to minimise the impact to road users which is why a temporary bridge will be built later this year adjacent to the part of the bridge that needs to be replaced to maintain the traffic flow throughout the construction.

“While the programme is designed to limit the use of traffic management and therefore disruption, to create the dedicated site access we do require off peak lane closures for a period of three weeks. Once in place, this route will facilitate safe, easy access for site traffic reducing the need for ongoing restrictions.”

Balfour Beatty was awarded the contract by Transport Scotland in February. Completion of the actual replacement bridge is forecast for early 2025.