Proposal to build replacement Bernera bridge at Arnish yard is rejected

A proposal that the replacement road bridge for Bernera should be built at the Arnish Fabrication yard has been rejected by the Chair of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Transport and Infrastructure committee.
By Peter Urpeth
Published 30th Sep 2020, 16:35 BST
The Comhairle is looking to provide a replacement crossing for the Bernera Bridge.The Comhairle is looking to provide a replacement crossing for the Bernera Bridge.
The Comhairle is looking to provide a replacement crossing for the Bernera Bridge.

The suggestion was made by Cllr Gordon Murray, leader of the Comhairle’s SNP group of councillors, in an e-mail to Cllr Uisdean Robertson.

Mr Murray said that the funding for the replacement bridge should be “spent locally” and said that the move would help the Arnish yard and the local economy.

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Cllr Murray added: “These are challenging times for our local economy and this may be a way of keeping money on the island on the local workforce.”

But in a statement, Cllr Robertson said that there were only a limited number of suppliers for the type of bridge required, and added: “The suppliers approached have the proven experience required for the design, construction and installation of this type of structure.

“The priority for the community of Bernera is to get the bridge built in the shortest possible time-frame.”

Last week, councillors on the Comhairle’s Transportation and Infrastructure committee backed a report that said that the replacement for the original bridge could cost in excess of £2 million – four times the initial estimated budget for the replacement.

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The bridge was closed in August to vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes when a survey uncovered serious problems in the bridge’s structure.

The restrictions on vehicles using the bridge has meant that many local services and deliveries, including local construction projects, have either been reorganised or cancelled until such time as a new structure is in place.

Councillors on the committee also heard that delays may occur in commencement of work for the replacement structure if a new marine licence was required and confirmed that council staff were searching the archives of the former Ross and Cromarty Council for the marine licence of the original bridge, completed in the early 1950s, with the hope that the original marine license may mean that a new license is not required.

Cllr Murray’s proposal comes after it was confirmed last week that BiFab’s already mothballed Arnish fabrication yard had not been successful in its bid to secure a major contract for turbine foundation works as part of the Seagreen offshore wind farm development off the east coast of Scotland, with the work going to overseas manufacturers.