Muddied waters over Kintore bridge proposal

Sir, – You have reported many times on the plans to dual the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness.

Local readers will be aware that these plans include a proposal to span the River Don at Kintore, an area, as you reported in Monday’s edition (“Proposed bridge site not common sense”) which is prone to flooding and has done so in three of the last four years.

The A96 dualling between Kintore and Huntly is currently in Stage 2 of development. A decision as to which route will go forward to Stage 3 is, I believe, to be made in the coming months.

What may surprise your readers – and be of concern to the residents of Kintore and Inverurie – is that neither the post-2016 flood modelling for the section of the Don identified for the river crossing nor the detailed design of the bridge will be undertaken until Stage 3, ie after the route selection.

Without the bridge design, flood modelling and other essential information such as the soil characteristics, how do we even know the proposed bridge can be built?

The logic employed here leaves me baffled especially as a recent FoI response confirmed that no routes have ever been deselected at Stage 3. Surely a case of

“putting the cart before the horse”? What is interesting though, is that Sepa, in its design manual for river crossings, cites the Don flood plain at the exact location of the bridge as a specific example of where not to site a crossing. This recommendation reflects the numerous meanders in the area and the significant bank erosion that is known to occur at times of high water levels.

Given that flooding, such as we have seen again this month, is likely to be a more frequent occurrence, we should all be urging Transport Scotland to practice risk avoidance in the first instance and put the proposal for online dualling through lnverurie back on the table – less risk, less environmental impact and less cost.

The online option fully supports the recommendation to make use of existing infrastructure made by the infrastructure commission for Scotland and the climate change committee, a recommendation I should add that is, in turn, supported by Transport Scotland.

As a taxpayer and someone who is concerned at the long-term impact of the A96 dualling plans on the north-east, I know which option I support. Innes Simpson, Burndale, Keithhall, Inverurie