Work is to start next week on replacing a railway footbridge in Oban.

The existing bridge, which links the Soroba Housing Estate with Drummore Road, is to be replaced by an £820,000 new structure.

The work, which was commissioned by Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA) as part of the Housing Stock Transfer Agreement in 2006, will start on site on February 15 and last approximately six weeks.

The new steel footbridge –which will include ramps to facilitate access – will open to the public by March 30.

There will be no public access to a footbridge for some four weeks of the work schedule. The alternative route for this period will be via McCaig Road.

A display of the plans will placed in the Community Centre in Soroba over the next few days, and an article describing the works will be published in the Soroba Siren newsletter, which is distributed to all households within the estate.

Working hours during the work, which is being carried out by Carillion, will generally be from 07.30 to 18.00.


Weekend working will be kept to a minimum. However, due to restrictions imposed by Network Rail, it will occasionally be necessary to employ a nightshift – either mid-week or at weekends.

Specific operations where night-time working will be required are the removal of the existing bridge and the erection of the new structure.

ACHA chief executive Alastair MacGregor said although access to all local estate roads would be maintained for the rest of the work, these two occasions will require the overnight closure of Drummore Road.

"Our aim is obviously to minimise disturbance to the residents of Soroba throughout the duration of these works, and a great deal of work has already gone in to ensuring that this is the case," he added.

"Modern, silenced equipment will be used whenever it can be, and access will be maintained as and when required where at all possible.

"Despite these efforts, there is unfortunately bound to be some disruption to local residents during the works. But I hope they will bear with us in the knowledge that what they will have at the end of it is a modern, state of the art footbridge."

The dates on which the overnight operations are provisionally scheduled are:Saturday Feb 27 21.30hrs – Sunday Feb 28 17.40hrs (Existing Bridge Removal), Saturday March 20 21.30hrs – Sunday March 21 17.40hrs (New Structure Erection) and Sunday March 21 21.30hrs – Monday March 22 07.45 hrs (New Structure Erection).

Argyll and Bute Council's spokesperson for Transportation and Infrastructure, Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, said the community had waited a long time for the bridge to be replaced.

"I am delighted that this work is now being done, and I am sure the new structure will be an enormous improvement on the existing bridge," he added.

Once completed, the ownership of the new bridge will pass to the Council.

(GK/BMcC)