A new £2 million road bridge has opened in central Scotland.

The Drumgrew Road bridge reopened on 15 April following an eight-month reconstruction programme.

The project is part of a series of schemes to create extra height beneath bridges to allow overhead power cables to be installed as part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP).

The bridges opening marks 59 out of 61 structures completed as part of the EGIP clearance works.

In addition to significant utilities diversions and reinstatement works, the project involved demolishing an existing masonry arch structure over a single weekend in October, strengthening the bridge abutments and reconstructing the deck and parapets before reconnecting the new bridge to the road network.


Rodger Querns, Network Rail programme director for EGIP, said: "Faced with the constraints of the Victorian rail infrastructure, reconstruction of the bridge at Drumgrew Road was a considerable undertaking, not least because much of the work had to be done at night to maintain train services during the day.

"The electrification of central Scotland's railway is a genuinely transformational investment in our infrastructure and key to unlocking additional capacity, reducing congestion and ensuring that longer trains provide more seats for passengers."

(Image: The Drumgrew Road bridge under construction)

(LM)