A89 Ford Bridge Widening

THE CHALLENGE

Sustrans National Cycle Route 75 connects Leith with Portavadie via Edinburgh, Glasgow, and passes through North Lanarkshire in an east-west direction. It is known locally as the Forth to Clyde Route and was realigned to accommodate the re-opening of the Airdrie to Bathgate rail project. This left an unacceptable pinch point on NCN 75 at Plains, where the existing north footway of the A89 reduced to approximately 600mm wide as it crossed Ford Bridge over the North Calder Water.

SYSTRA’S ROLE

SYSTRA’s solution involved widening the existing arch bridge by 2m, to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists accessing the nearby NCN 75 route. The scope of the widening works included a new precast reinforced concrete arch section and concrete wing-walls and parapet, all clad with sandstone to match the appearance of the original elevation. The sandstone cladding was sustainably sourced with stone reclaimed from a demolished tenement building. SYSTRA undertook the feasibility appraisal, detailed design and site supervision for the project. In conjunction with our client, North Lanarkshire Council, we worked closely with the local primary school children and community council during the design process and organised site visits during the construction stage to let the children see progress on site.