Canal road bridge at ‘serious risk of failure’ due to lack of maintenance

A lack of proper maintenance by Scottish Canals is putting a vital road link in a Falkirk village at ‘serious risk of failure’, two councillors have claimed.

Bonnybridge councillors Jack Redmond and Billy Buchanan have strongly criticised Scottish Canals for not maintaining the bridge over the Forth & Clyde canal at Bonnybridge, which lifts to allow boats to pass under.

The bridge is owned and operated by Scottish Canals and Cllr Redmond says the organisation has “failed to engage properly” with Falkirk Council, leaving the local authority to make temporary repairs.

Cllr Redmond said: “The bridge is a vital piece of infrastructure for Bonnybridge and is now at serious risk of failure due to Scottish canals neglect of proper maintenance.

“Scottish Canals really need to start taking this seriously and start taking responsibility for the infrastructure that they operate.

“The longer they leave the repairs, the further the bridge will deteriorate, making the repair work even more expensive.

“There are now four-inch deep potholes, and the steel structure is now exposed through the concrete.

“The council has carried out a number of temporary repairs for Scottish Canals on the understanding that they were going to be carrying out major refurbishment works.”

The bridge over the Forth & Clyde canal LDRS

In addition to the poor state of the road surface, there are concerns that the bridge’s opening mechanism is faulty, which can cause major inconvenience.

Last week, the bridge was lifted to allow a canal boat to pass through but did not go back into place correctly and was closed for 30 minutes.

Cllr Redmond says that he was concerned to see that while the bridge reopened after half an hour, it was clearly not in the correct position.

Scottish Canals say the repair has now been carried out but the local councillors say there have been ongoing problems for years.

Cllr Redmond, a Labour councillor, has now teamed up with Independent councillor, Billy Buchanan, to ask Scottish Canals to take action.

Baillie Buchanan says he believed the design would cause problems from the moment the plans were announced as part of the project to reopen the canal to celebrate the Millennium.

He said: “I asked, ‘what if it breaks down?’, but they did not listen.

“This was supposed to be a Millennium project – not a bridge that would bring our community to a halt.

He says he had expected a drop lock – which would allow boats to pass under – to be put in place, rather than a lifting bridge and even started a petition.

He recalls: “I started a campaign to stop it called ‘ban the bridge’. I had a number of public meetings and got huge support from the community.

“We have two schools on the west side and most of the industry is there.

“I believe it would have cost a mere £80,000 to put the drop lock-in, which would have allowed our community not to be affected when boats were coming through.

“Since this bridge has been installed my worst fears have been realised as over the years there have been numerous breakdowns and problems.”

A spokesperson for Scottish Canals said: “We are aware of the state of disrepair of the surface of Bonnybridge lifting bridge and we are currently working with Falkirk Council to arrange repairs.

“On Monday (November 4) an obstruction caused the bridge not to return fully to its closed position.

“As a result of this, we attended on site to rectify this and our teams worked diligently and safely to solve the issue allowing the bridge to return to its fully closed position.

“The bridge continues to be used regularly by heavy goods vehicles.

“By restricting heavy goods vehicles going over the bridge the amount of damage and degradation will be significantly reduced.

“Scottish Canals meets regularly with Falkirk Council to discuss both short term and longer-term options for the lifting bridge and these options are still under discussion.

“We will continue to work with Falkirk Council to keep this important connection open for the community and other road users.”

Falkirk Council has been approached for comment.