A new bridge over the Atlantic is finally on its way for islanders.
It is part of efforts to keep transport links open between Great Bernera and the mainland of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.
The assembly stage of the main structure of the new Bernera Bridge will be completed on Friday with the final section being put in place.
The team will now complete the installation as quickly as possible by pushing the bridge into the final location while dismantling the lead nosing and taking off temporary running beams.
Around 250 people live on Great Bernera, which was largely owned by the late Count Robin de La Lanne-Mirrlees, the colourful laird said to be the inspiration for James Bond.
Work begun in April on a 100 metre long structure will replace the present road link across Loch Roag which is out of bounds for larger vehicles after the discovery in August last year of defects required a 7.5 tonne weight limit imposed permanently on the existing 68-year-old structure.
Bridge to cost around £2 million
Rock embankments at each end will provide support with the approach roads re-aligned to tie into the new bridge.
The bridge is to cost around £2m – four times its original estimate.
The road link spans 108 feet over a fast-flowing sea strait on the Atlantic seaboard.
The pioneering link – which opened in 1953 – was also the first pre-stressed concrete girder road bridge in the UK, costing at the time £70,000.
Incredibly up to 4,000 people watched its opening – one of the largest crowds that ever gathered on the island.
Structural surveys show it has badly deteriorated, but the cost of a substantial long-term replacement is estimated at £5 million.
Councillors had been told the best interim solution is a new crossing on the east side of the existing bridge.
A report by Robert Emmott, the council’s director for assets, finance and resources, previously said: “Costs are estimated at £2m for the immediate solution, which will have a predicted lifespan of 30 years. The usual design parameter for a bridge would be to last for 120 years.”
Before the current bridge was built there had been a local campaign for a causeway to replace the boat which used to cross the strait with cattle swimming behind it. The money raised was later used for an improved road to Bosta on Bernera, which is today home to about 250 people.
With its three spans and overall length of 108ft, the bridge was the second largest of its kind at that time. A model of it was exhibited at The Festival of Britain.
It is said that the 1950s the residents were so eager to keep in close contact with Lewis that they threatened to build their own causeway by dynamiting the cliffs on either side.
