Information about the structural integrity of a key Mearns bridge will be recorded and “live-streamed” in an effort to keep it open.
Inverbervie’s Jubilee Bridge, which carries the A92 Stonehaven to Montrose road across the Bervie Water to the north of the seaside community, has been beset with problems for years due in part to heavy usage by large vehicles.
More than £1 million is expected to be spent on improving the crossing in the next few years.
But in the meantime, Aberdeenshire Council is seeking a company to istall a system that can help it analyse the bridge for any defects as they occur.
The Jubilee Bridge was opened in 1935 and was named in honour of the 25th year of the reign of King George V.
It was refurbished during a 40-week operation in 2008 at a cost of £1.4 million and currently a 44 tonne weight limit is currently imposed in order to prevent further damage being caused.
To assist with that, the council is seeking a company to design, fabricate and put in place a system to monitor key points of the bridge for any degradation.
The contract states: “Data should be live-streamed and collated for analysis to aid in the whole life management and maintenance of the bridge.
“The system should be able to track longitudinal and transverse movement along with vertical displacements and should also be able to monitor identified re-entrant cracks for deterioration.”
Monitoring equipment previously installed on the Jubilee Bridge has shown some vehicles as heavy as 70 tonnes have been going across it.
Earlier this year, Mearns councillor George Carr called for the structure to be replaced entirely.
He said: “It was a bit of a surprise that there were such heavy movements and I think decisions need to be taken with regard to Jubilee Bridge.
“It is escalating in need and we can’t keep putting good money after bad.
“This is a key bridge for an awful lot of people in the Mearns.”
It has previously been estimated that replacement could cost as much as £20 million.
