Major bridge repairs ahead of schedule
Phase one of a major safety repair project on a Carse of Gowrie flyover heavily damaged by an overheight vehicle is set to be completed ahead of schedule.
The first stage of the £650,000 project to repair the damaged A90 Glencarse Overbridge began on August 17, and has seen workers repair and replace some of the steel structural beams and associated components beneath the bridge deck.
The first phase was expected to take up to seven weeks to complete, by October 5, but now it looks to be finished by the end of this month before work on the bridge surface begins.
The structure was badly damaged after being struck by a large vehicle transporting an excavator in October 2019 and the bridge has since been partially closed for safety.
Carse of Gowrie councillor Alasdair Bailey has spoken recently to the BEAR team working on the project.
He said: “I had a great discussion with the team working on the bridge repair.
“Progress is good and they are on-schedule for completion as planned near the end of this month.
“The new steel beams are in place and work is now underway to clean then repaint the other beams.
“Next will be replacement of the bridge bearings, which the beams sit on.
“There will be more details of the overnight closures of the road over the bridge in the coming week and I’ll share those once I have them.
“Similarly, details are being finalised of the phase two of the works which will involve refurbishing and resurfacing the top surface of the bridge.
“We also discussed the traffic problems that have been seen on local roads during the works and I’m reassured that police have been made aware of the instances of people jumping traffic lights.
“I’ll also follow-up with police to see what can be done about enforcement of the rules.
“I also shared the worries about people unintentionally driving down Cairnie Road and Madoch Road when attempting to get back on to the A90(S) in busy times.
“Overall, traffic seems to flow well on the A90 in the northbound direction, towards Dundee, but the southbound direction, towards Perth, does snarl up in the afternoons, with 3pm to about 6pm being the worst times.”
The flyover will remain open throughout the vast majority of the repairs, however some short overnight closures will be required at times to allow teams to safely carry out engineering work on the bridge deck.
A short, signed diversion route will be in place via the Kinfauns and Glendoick junctions when the bridge deck is closed.
The second phase of repairs will involve refurbishment of the concrete bridge deck.
A spokesperson for
BEAR Scotland said: “Good progress has been made on the first phase of the repair project for the A90 Glencarse Overbridge.
“Since the project got under way last month, teams have successfully removed and replaced the damaged sections of the steel beams.
“Work is now under way to protect the steelwork with a coating of protective paint and this stage is expected to be completed early next week.
“Teams will then begin replacing the bearings of the bridge as well as carrying out concrete repairs to the structure.
“Specialist engineers are working seven days a week to ensure the project is completed in the least possible time, and we’ll continue to do all we can to minimise disruption as much as possible.”