Canal road bridge at ‘serious risk of failure’

A CANAL road bridge is at a serious risk of failure that is due to lack of maintenance.

So claim Bonnybridge councillors Jack Redmond and Billy Buchanan who have criticised Scottish Canals for failing to maintain the lift bridge over the Forth & Clyde canal at Bonnybridge, Janet Friend reports.

At risk of failure

They claim that lack of proper maintenance is putting an important vital road link to a Falkirk village at risk of failure.

The bridge is in such a poor condition that Falkirk Council have had to make temporary repairs. to keep it working, Jack Redmond told the council:

The bridge is a vital piece of infrastructure for Bonnybridge and is now at serious risk of failure due to Scottish Canals neglect of proper maintenance.

“Scottish Canals really need to start taking this seriously and start taking responsibility for the infrastructure that they operate. The longer they leave the repairs, the further the bridge will deteriorate, making the repair work even more expensive.

“There are now four-inch deep potholes, and the steel structure is now exposed through the concrete."

Fails to re-seat

The bridge is often lifted  to allow a boat to pass through, but then fails to re-seat correctly so causes long delays to the road traffic until someone can get there to fix it.

There are further concerns about the condition of its mechanism.