Caledonian Canal swing bridge at Inverness still out of action despite new part being fitted
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A swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal at Inverness is still not working properly despite a specially made spare part being fitted.
Engineers attached the new part last Thursday after the Torvean Bridge was reported out of action on Monday, March 25.
Highland Council said at that time that there would be a delay in repairing the crossing as a new part would have to be manufactured specially.
A spokeswoman for Highland Council said today (Tuesday April 2): “The replacement part was fitted on Thursday as planned but a problem with sensors is preventing it working reliably so it can’t be operated remotely from the control building as it should.
“Specialist engineers will be on site tomorrow.”
Torvean Bridge plays a vital part in preventing traffic bottlenecks when the canal has to be closed to vehicles when boats are coming through. It works in tandem with the nearby Tomnahurich Bridge so that when one swing bridge has to close to road traffic, the other bridge is used, preventing the massive tailbacks that previously plagued the A82 Inverness to Loch Ness trunk road for decades.
Torvean Bridge has however suffered several breakdowns since since opening in July 2021.
It is core element of the West Link bypass road and it’s opening marked the completion of the road project that has been made possible through investment by Highland Council and the £315m Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal which included £135m from the Scottish Government, supported by £127m from Highland Council and its partners and another £53m from the UK Government.
