Work will protect Banff Bridge
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
PROPOSALS to help protect the Banff Bridge by reducing scour have been agreed by councillors at a Banff and Buchan area committee .
The work, designed to protect the bridge’s pillars, will involve constructing sandstone sections, called ‘cutwaters’, matching the existing masonry of the bridge, onto the south face of each of the structures.
The work is similar to a design on the original bridge, built in the 18th century, and will improve waterflow, reducing the scour of the bridge, which is visible at each corner of the south face.
Further work will involve reducing sediment removal on the river bed, following on from £200,000 improvements made last winter, which involved installing a rock pool upstream to ensure fish movements would not be disturbed.
Katherine Donnachie, Aberdeenshire Council’s head of planning and building standards, said: "This is a response to a recent survey which identified that the bridge’s foundations were being seriously undercut by the action of the water.
"The cutwaters will help address problems with scour around the existing bridge piers."
The bridge, an A-listed building of historical importance, spans the Deveron between Banff and Macduff, and suffered during flooding in 2009.
Historic Scotland and Aberdenshire Council are in agreement over the neccessity of the work, which will be carried out from the Macduff side of the bridge, in the near future.
