Kessock Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 57°29′58″N4°13′48″W / 57.499448°N 4.229976°W |
| Carries | A9 road |
| Crosses | Beauly Firth |
| Locale | Inverness, Scotland |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cable-stayed bridge |
| Total length | 1,056 metres (3,465 ft) |
| Longest span | 240 metres (787 ft) |
| History | |
| Opened | 6 August 1982 by The Queen Mother |
| Location | |
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The Kessock Bridge (Scottish Gaelic : Drochaid Cheasaig) [1] carries the A9 trunk road across the Beauly Firth at Inverness, Scotland.
The Kessock Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Beauly Firth, an inlet of the Moray Firth, between the village of North Kessock and the city of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.
The bridge has a total length of 1,056 metres (3,465 ft) with a main span of 240 metres (787 ft). Designed by German engineer Hellmut Homberg and built by Cleveland Bridge, [2] [3] [4] it is similar to a bridge across the Rhine in Düsseldorf. The Beauly Firth is a navigable waterway and hence the bridge is raised high over sea level. The four bridge towers dominate the Inverness skyline, especially at night when they are lit.
The bridge carries the A9 trunk road north from Inverness to the Black Isle. It is the southernmost of the "Three Firths" crossings (Beauly, Cromarty and Dornoch) which has transformed road transport in the Highlands. It has proved a key factor in the growth of the city of Inverness.
To protect against any potential seismic activity of the Great Glen Fault, the bridge includes seismic buffers in its construction. These buffers are at the north abutment, nearly over the line of the fault, and they supplement longitudinal restraint at Pier 7, the south main pier. Each buffer is just over 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) long and weighs about 2.5 tonnes (2.8 short tons). [5]
On the south side of the bridge is the Caledonian Stadium, home of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
The bridge has been the focus of mental health concerns in recent years involving people at serious risk of harm and potential suicides. In 2022 police were called to 203 such incidents, the highest in five years. Fewer callouts to any previous incidents had happened in years before that; 120 occurred in 2021, 69 in 2020, 85 in 2019 and 78 in 2018. The incidents have caused the bridge to be closed many times with traffic becoming heavy whilst they divert through local routes such as through Beauly. There have been calls for safety improvements to the bridge to prevent incidents. [6]
Prior to August 1982, travellers north of Inverness had the choice of the Kessock Ferry or a 20 mile journey via Beauly. Cleveland Bridge were awarded the £17.5 million contract in 1975 (equivalent to £185,420,000in 2023). [7] [8] Construction on the bridge began in 1978, with completion and opening in 1982. [9] It won the combined design and construction Saltire Society 1982 Civil Engineering Award in 1983. [10] [11]
Transport Scotland estimated in 2012 that 30,000 vehicles per day were using the bridge. [9]
Since 2007, the 25th anniversary of its opening, the Kessock Bridge has featured on the obverse of the £100 note issued by the Bank of Scotland. The series of notes commemorates Scottish engineering achievements with illustrations of bridges in Scotland such as the Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Forth Bridge. [12]
The bridge's northbound carriageway was resurfaced between February and June 2013, [13] followed by the southbound carriageway between February and June 2014. [14] Both programmes of work were performed by Stirling Lloyd Construction Limited using their "Eliminator" bridge deck waterproofing system in combination with Aeschlimann AG's Gussasphalt impermeable surfacing material. [14] [15] The new surface is guaranteed by the contractors for a period of 10 years, with a prediction that it will extend the life of the bridge by 10 to 20 years beyond that. [14]
In 2019, the bridge was awarded a Category B listed status by Historic Environment Scotland. [16]
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands.
The A9 is a major road in Scotland running from the Falkirk council area in central Scotland to Scrabster Harbour, Thurso in the far north, via Stirling, Bridge of Allan, Perth and Inverness. At 273 miles (439 km), it is the longest road in Scotland and the fifth-longest A-road in the United Kingdom. Historically it was the main road between Edinburgh and John o' Groats, and has been called the spine of Scotland. It is one of the three major north–south trunk routes linking the Central Belt to the Highlands – the others being the A82 and the A90.
The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William. It is one of the principal north-south routes in Scotland and is mostly a trunk road managed by Transport Scotland, who view it as an important link from the Central Belt to the Scottish Highlands and beyond. The road passes close to numerous landmarks, including Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, Glen Coe, the Ballachulish Bridge, Ben Nevis, the Commando Memorial, Loch Ness, and Urquhart Castle. Along with the A9 and the A90 it is one of the three major north–south trunk roads connecting the Central Belt to the North.
The Great Glen, also known as Glen Albyn or Glen More, is a glen in Scotland running for 62 miles (100 km) from Inverness on the edge of the Moray Firth, in an approximately straight line to Fort William at the head of Loch Linnhe. It follows a geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault, and bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Grampian Mountains to the southeast and the Northwest Highlands to the northwest.
The Great Glen Fault is a strike-slip fault that runs through the Great Glen in Scotland. Occasional moderate tremors have been recorded over the past 150 years.
Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish League One club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-track, with only passing loops at some intermediate stations allowing trains to pass each other. Like other railway lines in the Highlands and northern Lowlands, it is not electrified and all trains are diesel-powered.
The Black Isle is a peninsula within Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands. It includes the towns of Cromarty and Fortrose, and the villages of Culbokie, Resolis, Jemimaville, Rosemarkie, Avoch, Munlochy, Tore, and North Kessock, as well as numerous smaller settlements. About 12,000 people live on the Black Isle, depending on the definition.
The Beauly Firth is a firth in northern Scotland. It is the outlet for both the River Beauly and River Ness. The Beauly Firth is bounded at its western end by the town of Beauly and its eastern by Inverness, where it empties into the Moray Firth.
South Kessock is an area of the city of Inverness in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is situated to the city's north at the mouth of the River Ness. It is a traditionally working-class area.
The River Beauly is a river in the Scottish Highlands, about 15 km west of the city of Inverness.
North Kessock is a village on the Black Isle north of Inverness.
Muir of Ord is a village in Easter Ross, in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is situated near the western end of the Black Isle, about 9 miles (14 km) west of the city of Inverness and 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) south of Dingwall. The village has a population of 2,840 and sits 35 metres (115 ft) above sea level. The Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Murchison was born in the village in 1792.
The A835 is a road in the Scottish Highlands linking Inverness to Ullapool and the Far North of Scotland.
The Dornoch Firth Bridge is a road bridge over the Dornoch Firth, carrying traffic between Tain and Dornoch.
Plans are in place to construct a southern bypass that would link the A9, A82 and A96 together involving crossings of the Caledonian Canal and the River Ness in the Torvean area, southwest of the city. The bypass, known as the Inverness Trunk Road Link (TRL), is aimed at resolving Inverness’s transport problems and has been split into two separate projects, the east and west sections. Also proposed is the upgrade of the existing B8082 Southern Distributor Road to dual 2-lane carriageway or single 4-lane carriageway, that will connect the two sections together.
The Kessock Ferry used to ply between Inverness and the Black Isle, across the Beauly Firth. It was withdrawn on the opening of the Kessock Bridge in 1982.
Charleston is a village on the north shore of the Beauly Firth, about 1 mile west of the Kessock Bridge, in east Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands, within the Scottish council area of Highland. An artificially created village, it was laid out in 1812 by Sir Charles Mackenzie of Kilcoy.
In 2011, Transport Scotland envisioned a plan to upgrade the remaining 90 miles of the A9, a trunk road in Scotland, between Perth and Inverness from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway. According to this plan, the road will be widened from one to two lanes per direction. It also means there will be an increase in speed for cars and motorcycles from 60 mph to 70 mph.
Kessock Lifeboat Station is located directly under the A9 Kessock Bridge, on the north shore of Beauly Firth at Craigton Point, North Kessock, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Inverness, in the Highland region of Scotland.
