Repairs to Inverness Infirmary Bridge have been postponed due to a budget hole caused by urgent work on the Rose Street multi-storey car park, Highland Council confirms

The infirmary deck. Photo: James Mackenzie.

Vital repairs to keep an Inverness bridge open to the public have been delayed for a year after urgent structural work on a multi-storey car park left a hole in the council’s budget.

Infirmary Bridge, a busy Victorian pedestrian crossing over the River Ness, needs repairs worth more than half a million pounds to keep it open.

The bridge is temporarily closed several times as a safety precaution during major riverside events due to weight restrictions, as the structure is not strong enough to support large numbers of people at once. It is also understood it is nearing the end of its expected lifespan, having carried pedestrians across the river for more than 140 years.

Repair and maintenance work costing £535,000 is expected to start on the bridge during the current financial year, which would have further extended its operational life.

But it was revealed this week that the date for repairs has now been pushed back to the 2025/26 financial year after urgent and unexpected repairs needed at the Rose Street multi-storey car park meant there was not enough left. money in the current budget.

The news emerged at the latest meeting of Highland Council’s economy and infrastructure committee on Thursday.

Speaking during discussions on a report into planned works on numerous bridges around the local authority area, Councilor Alasdair Christie raised the issue of repairs to the Infirmary Bridge.

The Inverness Ness councilor said: “(I’m) looking for some clarity around the Infirmary Bridge which is obviously just a pedestrian bridge, but obviously very well used – particularly for some large events which have place – (and it is) closed for many people. of the big events we had.

“In the report it talks about works starting in 2024/25 and then in the story it talks about 25/26 and I just don’t know when the remedial works will start. And is there a provision for bridge replacement in the capital program, as I haven’t seen one? It appears these are just repairs.

“Are we saying we’re going to fix something knowing that it only has a particular lifespan and we don’t have any provisions from the administration in the capital program to actually replace the bridge?

In response, a council official confirmed that the urgent need for repairs to the Rose Street multi-storey car park was one of the factors causing the delay. Around 200 parking spaces in the multi-storey building are currently cordoned off after inspections revealed damage to numerous structural support pillars.

The council official said: “Yes, Infirmary Bridge, there is £535,000 in our main bridges in our investment program allocated to Infirmary (Bridge). This is not enough to replace the structure. This is simply a matter of carrying out basic repairs to keep it functioning until the end of its lifespan and the medium/long term solution remains that the bridge will indeed need to be replaced.

He continued: “Our repair work has slipped. We had hoped to do them this year but our resources were diverted elsewhere. For example the Rose Street car park. But we still hope that the infirmary bridge will make further progress next year.

Councilor Duncan Macpherson, member for Inverness South Ward, wondered whether it might not make more financial sense to build a replacement rather than spend half a million pounds on repairs “every 10 to 12 years.” He cited work to replace a similar suspension bridge at Lossiemouth which he said would cost around £1.1 million or £1.2 million. And he asked whether it wouldn’t make more sense to build a brand new replacement building in the same style as the existing one “that would last another 100 years”.

In response, committee chairman Councilor Ken Gowans (Inverness South) said he believed these types of figures were only one-offs and it would likely be “considerably more than that” to build a replacement a once full costs are established. He also stressed that there was no funding for a replacement in the current capital budget.

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