Further repairs mean delay to reopening of A90 Glencarse flyover

The reopening of an A90 flyover has been delayed by three weeks after engineers uncovered more “extensive damage”.

The A90 crossing, between Dundee and Perth, was struck by a lorry and crane on Halloween night last year.

A £650,000 programme of repairs got under way earlier this summer.

After engineers successfully completed repairs to the underside of the bridge, they moved on to repairing the top of the structure in August.

However, after removing the road surface on top of the bridge, engineers found more extensive damage to vital sections.

Repairs are now expected to take another three weeks to complete.

Ian Stewart, Bear S c o t l a n d ’s north-east representative, said: “Engineers h av e been working continuously on the programme of complex repairs at Glencarse overbridge in order to safely reopen the bridge to road users.

“During the repairs, engineers located unforeseen heavily damaged areas of concrete and steel below the road surface in need of repair, so our programme has had to be adjusted to accommodate these essential phases.

“Te a m s are doing everything they can to repair the bridge as quickly and safely as possible to allow it to be reopened to road users.”

The engineers are now continuing to repair the bridge, and it is expected to be reopened around mid-November.

Currently the bridge is closed to all traffic, and although this does not affect motorists on the A90, anyone travelling between Glencarse and St Madoes has to be diverted locally.

Labour councillor Alisdair Bailey said: “The crew are already working seven days a week on this job and although i t ’s unfortunate that it’s taking longer than planned, these works are routine maintenance and would have had to happen regardless of the crane accident last year.

“I’ve shared the frustrations that local people have been sharing with me with the operators, so they’re well aware that this work is causing a lot of inconvenience.”

Businesses at Glencarse said their shops took an 85% hit when the overpass closed for six weeks following the accident.

DAMAGE: The bridge is expected to reopen in mid-November. Picture by Kim Cessford.