Project Outline:
B844-010 Kilninver Bridge in Argyll and Bute is a single, 15m span masonry arch structure which carries the B844 over the River Euchar. Due to its narrow 2.8m width between parapets and its alignment (particularly on the eastern approach) it is subjected to repeated parapet impacts from larger vehicles and suffers from a number of parapet defects. Bulging spandrel walls have been monitored since around 2012 when maintenance works to repair them were carried out.
The bridge has been subject to masonry defects in its spandrel walls and parapets since 2012 and monitoring has recorded that minimal changes occurred until October 2023, when a weather event caused severe damage to the bridge’s eastern abutment. Emergency Repairs were carried out at that time to encapsulate the damaged abutment in a substantial concrete repair. Monitoring has continued since then and evidence of further movement was recorded on 19 June 2025. Following an emergency engineering review the decision has been taken to protect the bridge by implementing vehicular restrictions and undertaking emergency repairs.
Kilninver Bridge’s LBMF* Scheme Update – September 2025:
- The final element of the LBMF Scheme’s Feasibility Study will be a Public Consultation which at the moment is planned to be undertaken in late 2025 / early 2026
- Alongside the current Emergency Strengthening Scheme, additional in-house design work for the LBMF Scheme is underway. This is necessary due to the change in the bridge’s structural makeup from the emergency strengthening works,
- A construction contract for the LBMF Scheme is being prepared for late 2025 / early 2026,
- The funding secured by Argyll and Bute Council for the LBMF schemes is still ring fenced. Of the four larger schemes, some of which may require additional funding, Kilninver Bridge is the highest priority and is currently understood to have adequate funding in place to allow the LBMF Scheme to be completed. This will be reviewed once tender prices are available,
- The programmed year for construction of the LBMF Scheme is currently 2026/27.
*LBMF schemes are part funded by the Scottish Government’s Local Bridge Maintenance Fund (LBMF).
Thursday 18/9/25
All slabs have now been installed and last night’s final planned overnight closure allowed the contractor to carry out the final surfacing of the bridge deck.
The next planned activities are:
- Installation of scour protection at the bridge’s eastern abutment
- Final masonry repairs
- Reinstatements of works site extents
- Remaining, minor elements of works
- Demobilisation from site by the contractor
There are no further planned night closures at the bridge for these emergency works.
We expect that the full emergency works contract will be completed on Monday 29th September 2025. By this time, the traffic management at the bridge will be removed and the road between Kilninver Bridge and Keeper’s Cottage will have been reopened. It remains the case that this section of road must remain closed until works are completed so that we can ensure that the site is kept as safe as possible and that the contractor has the necessary welfare facilities in place.
Friday 12/09/2025
There will be no night closure tonight - Friday/Saturday. Thanks to the great progress made this week the programmed overnight closure is no longer required.
Works progressed well on the fifth, sixth and seventh planned night closures. All 17 slabs have now been installed – ahead of schedule. Concrete stitch work on the slabs will be carried out Saturday day shift, during which time, the bridge will remain open to traffic.
The next planned night closure for Kilninver Bridge is 21:00 Wednesday 17 September 2025 until 06:00 Thursday 18 September. The table below sets out the key dates and times that remaining work will be carried out under night closures.
|
Night |
Road Closure Starts |
Road Closure Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Night 1 | 21:00 Wednesday, 17 September 2025 | 06:00 Thursday, 18 September 2025 |
Tuesday 09/09/2025 – Works Update
Works progressed well on the fourth planned night closure and a further two slabs were installed.
The road was then reopened to traffic.
The works and the associated night closures expect to continue as planned as outline in the Tuesday 26/8/25 update, although subject to on-site management each night as works continue.
Thursday 04/09/2025 – Works Update
World Stone Skimming Championships
This Saturday 6 September sees The World Stone Skimming Championships on Easdale Island. Kilninver Bridge reopened this morning, and there are no planned closures this weekend. The next planned night closure starting 21:00 Monday, 8 September 2025.
The works and the associated night closures expect to continue as planned as outlined in our Tuesday 6 August update, although subject to on-site management each night as works continue.
Works progressed well on the third planned night closure as three more slabs were installed, and the road was then reopened to traffic.
The works and the associated night closures expect to continue as planned as outlined in the Tuesday 26/8/25 update, although subject to on-site management each night as works continue.
Wednesday 3/09/2025
Works again progressed well on the second planned night closure.
Two emergency service accesses were accommodated by the onsite teams between 19:30 to 23:30.
The second slab was then successfully installed on the west side of the bridge and the road was then reopened earlier than programmed.
The works and the associated night closures expect to continue as planned and outlined in the table within the Tuesday 26/8/25 update, This might be subject to on-site management each night as works continue.
Tuesday 2/9/25
Works progressed well on the first planned night closure and the first slab was successfully installed on the west side of the bridge.
The road was then reopened as planned.
The works and the night closures shall continue as planned and will pause to avoid the World Stone Skimming Championships. Good luck to all the competitors!
Tuesday 26/8/25
The next phase of works to install the reinforced concrete relieving slab during night closures will commence shortly.
We are happy to confirm that the bridge will remain open from 06:00 Thursday 4 September until 21:00 Monday 8 September during the World Stone Skimming Championships.
The table below sets out the key dates and times that work will be carried out under night closures.
| Night |
Road Closure Starts |
Road Closure Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Night 1 | 21:00 Monday, 1 September 2025 | 06:00 Tuesday, 2 September 2025 |
| Night 2 | 21:00 Tuesday 2, September 2025 | 06:00 Wednesday, 3 September 2025 |
| Night 3 | 21:00 Wednesday, 3 September 2025 | 06:00 Thursday, 4 September 2025 |
| No closure | (No night closure on evening of Thursday, 4 September 2025) | (No night closure on morning of Friday, 5 September 2025) |
| No closure | (No night closure on evening of Friday,5 September 2025) | (No night closure on morning of Saturday, 6 September 2025) |
| No closure | (No night closure on evening of Saturday 6 September 2025) | (No night closure on morning of Sunday 7 September 2025) |
| No closure | (No night closure on evening of Sunday, 7 September 2025) | (No night closure on morning of Monday, 8 September 2025) |
| Night 4 | 21:00 Monday, 8 September 2025 | 06:00 Tuesday, 9 September 2025 |
| Night 5 | 21:00 Tuesday, 9 September 2025 | 06:00 Wednesday, 10 September 2025 |
| Night 6 | 21:00 Wednesday, 10 September 2025 | 06:00 Thursday, 11 September 2025 |
| Night 7 | 21:00 Thursday, 11 September 2025 | 06:00 Friday, 12 September 2025 |
| Night 8 | 21:00 Friday, 12 September 2025 | 06:00 Saturday, 13 September 2025 |
| Night 9 | 21:00 Wednesday, 17 September 2025 | 06:00 Thursday, 18 September 2025 |
To ensure health and safety is responsibly managed it will unfortunately not be possible to arrange for any amnesties during the night closures. Emergency access will continue to be maintained at all times.
Monday 18/8/25
- Offsite fabrication of steel cages and formwork for the reinforced concrete relieving slabs is underway,
- Installation of the permanent tie bars through the bridge is ongoing,
- 24/7 managed traffic lights remain in place at the bridge along with a 20mph speed limit.
- The contractor’s Traffic Management operatives are happy to continue to assist with any banking and marshalling of larger vehicles into and across the bridge – this has been successfully undertaken a number of times whilst the emergency works are ongoing. The traffic management arrangement on the east side of the bridge has been reviewed and refined to ensure maximum possible space is made available to larger vehicles.
Thursday 31/7/25
Kilninver Bridge emergency strengthening – status update
Work is progressing well to strengthen Kilninver Bridge. We are now around 40% of the way through the project with around eight weeks’ work left to complete. Completion is currently expected to be by the end of September. Thank you for your patience during this time.
To date we have:
- Installed 24/7 manned traffic management;
- Installed temporary steel plates across the bridge deck which has allowed us to remove the emergency weight restriction placed on the bridge;
- Completed coring (removing cylindrical sections of masonry and infill through the bridge) on the east and west sides of the bridge. This will allow us to install tie bars and waling beams to strengthening the bridge’s spandrel walls. Temporary ties and waling are currently in place;
- Masonry repairs to the bridge elevations are largely completed, and are currently expected to be fully complete by early August; and
- Designs and approvals for a precast reinforced concrete relieving slab and scour protection are being refined to initiate procurement of materials.
The next steps are to install the permanent tie bars and commence off site construction of the concrete relieving slab. The concrete relieving slab will then commence installation on site along with waterproofing of the deck.
We anticipate there will be further night closures during September. This includes nine days in early September to install the new relieving slab and the waterproofing over the bridge deck and two days in mid to late September to install the road surfacing. We are pleased to confirm that the bridge will remain open during the four nights from the evening of Thursday 4 September through to the morning of Monday 8 September for the World Stone Skimming Championships, on 6 and 7 September.
The road between Kilninver Bridge and Keeper’s Cottage will remain closed until works are completed so that we can ensure that the site is kept as safe as possible and that the contractor has the necessary welfare facilities in place. Twenty four-hour manned traffic management will remain in place throughout the works – they will be on site to manage larger vehicles crossing the bridge if required. All heavier vehicles crossing the bridge will be recorded. Abnormal Loads are still not permitted to cross the bridge.
Tuesday 22/7/25
- The B844 section of loop road is closed and access to Kilninver Bridge must now be taken from the northern A816 junction.
- Coring has been completed on the east spandrels. Temporary anchors, plates and walers have been installed.
- Masonry repairs to the bridge elevations have commenced and are ongoing.
Tuesday 8/7/25
We are pleased to confirm that the 18 tonne weight restriction was lifted at 6pm last night and access to Kilninver Bridge is now restored to the full 44 tonnes.
Please note, Abnormal Loads are still not permitted to cross the bridge. Those responsible for transporting an Abnormal Load need to notify bridge authorities, roads authorities and the police. Any Abnormal Loads approaching the bridge will not be permitted to cross by Traffic Management. All heavier vehicles crossing the bridge will be recorded.
Steel plates have been installed across Kilninver Bridge.
Setup for the coring works to commence installation of bridge ties began today (8/7/25).
Monday 7/7/25 update
We are working hard to repair the bridge as quickly as possible and to mitigate the impact on the local community and visitors. Working on historic structures like Kilninver Bridge brings challenges that can be hard to predict and as a result at our inspection first thing this morning we identified a small amount of additional work required to ensure the safe removal of the current weight restriction. The additional work is taking place today and we anticipate that the weight restriction will be lifted by the end of the day. We apologise for this small delay and the inconvenience it causes.
We are pleased to confirm that night restrictions will now be removed and if all goes to plan these won’t be needed again until the end of the summer. Advanced notice will be given when a further night closure is required.
Meantime, we ask all members of the public to comply with traffic management advice for your own safety and the safety of workers, some of whom may be working under the bridge. Please drive slowly and with care.
Thursday 3/6/25 update
We understand the impact the current weight restriction at Kilninver Bridge is having on the local community and other road users. Together with our contractor, we are doing everything possible to lessen the effects of these emergency repair works and to lift the temporary weight restrictions as soon as possible. The current weight restriction is 18 tonnes, and this will stay in place until 6am on Monday 7 July, when we expect to lift it and restore access up to the full 44 tonnes.
To undertake this work as quickly as possible while maintaining safety for both road users and our construction workers, unfortunately, we need to close the bridge overnight. These closures will be in effect from Wednesday July 2, until Monday July 7, between 9pm and 6am. During this time, we will only allow access for emergency services (e.g., police, fire, ambulance). Other vehicles will not be permitted, and we ask road users to make alternative arrangements during these night closures. Our engineers will continue to monitor the bridge's integrity throughout these works, and we will provide an update if the situation changes.
We have received requests to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge at night, unfortunately this is not possible. During the night closure the bridge is an active construction site and therefore to ensure the safety of the public and our construction workers it is not possible to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge.
Friday 27/6/25 update
There will be overnight closures between 9pm and 6am from Wednesday 2 July to Monday 7 July. Emergency access will be maintained during the night closures.
The closures will will allow us to install steel plates across the affected area of the bridge. Our intention is that this work will allow us to remove vehicular weight restriction on the bridge. Traffic management will remain for the rest of the works.
Please note: It will not be possible for abnormal loads to cross the bridge until the works are fully complete.
Thursday 26/6/25 update
Work continues at pace to strengthen the B844 Kilninver Bridge. This is a vital piece of infrastructure supporting communities in Ardmaddy, Seil, Easdale, and Luing so we are doing all we can to maintain continued safe access.
We have just completed the installation of a manned traffic light system at the bridge which has allowed us to raise the vehicle weight restriction from 7.5 to 18 tonnes from 16.00 today.
We are also working towards raising the weight limit to 44 tonnes by the end of next week. To do this we will need to introduce night-closures which will allow us to install steel plates across the affected area of the bridge. Emergency access will be maintained during the night closures. Our engineers will continue to monitor the integrity of the bridge throughout these works and we will advise should the situation change.
We are doing all we can to support our communities and businesses as we carry out this necessary work over the summer and we thank the local community and travelling public for their continued patience during these vital works.
Tuesday 24/06/2025 Update:
- Procurement work is underway to engage a specialist contractor with a suitable level of expertise and availability for immediate site works
- It is currently expected that the specialist contractor will be onsite in the next 24 hours
- A traffic management arrangement will be implemented by the specialist contractor to ensure the safety of the travelling public and to provide short term protection to the bridge structure until strengthening works are completed
- The bridge will be restricted to 7.5t MGW vehicular traffic until strengthening works are at a stage which allows this to be increased and/or removed. This is currently expected to take around 8 weeks
- Works to protect the bridge are currently expected to comprise:
- Installation of tie bars through the bridge and spreader/waling beams along the spandrel walls
- Injection of grout to bridge’s internal structure
- Formation of a reinforced concrete relieving slab on the bridge deck
- General masonry repairs to key elements of the bridge
Spandrel bulge on Kilninver Bridge.
Wide view of spandrel bulge on bridge.
