Cabrach bridge works
This month, teams from AJ Engineering are expected to be on site to supply and install two bridges which are part of Moray Council’s £1.7m road and footbridge spending plan.
Working on behalf of Story Contracting, the AJE team have fabricated, steel sections, plates and supplied parapet railings for two six metre bridges at Dykeside and Aldunie, Cabrach.
As with any projects, the team have had to be flexible as the planned schedule of works had to be changed as project manager Kevin Smith explained: “The bridges are just five minutes apart and although they are very similar, they are being treated as separate projects. It was planned that the Dykeside Bridge would be the first to be replaced, but when it was removed by the client, it was found that the original abutments that they had hoped to build upon were in a worse state of repair than first thought. Story Contracting are going to do the additional works required before we can then get onto site.”
Kevin added: “All it means is that we have moved the replacement of the Aldunie bridge up and it is hoped that we will be on site by July 6 with the Dykeside Bridge hopefully following shortly afterwards. Each bridge should take about three days to be installed.”
Moray Council’s road network includes 376 bridges and 160 retaining walls with a number of them damaged by vehicle collisions in 2020/21, seven of them hit-and-run. The cost of repair work ranges between £1,684 and £17,915 with an average spend of £7,202 at each bridge.