A vital part of the Elgin flood prevention scheme took a giant leap forward on Friday when the final arch in the new ‘Landshut Bridge’ was put in place over the River Lossie.
The £5.7million bridge is a major part in the flood scheme and it is with some relief that engineers finally put the final arch in place after several delays due to weather and issues with lifting gear.
One of the largest mobile cranes in the country had to be called in to put the 24-tonne sections into place, now further work on the steelwork and concrete deck will be carried out with the bridge due to open to traffic in the Spring of next year.
However, the project manager for the scheme, Peter Haslam, says he hopes that it will be possible to open the bridge at Pansport before then.
Mr Haslam said: “Once we get it open to traffic we will finish off the embankments and hopefully that will be a significant milestone for reducing flood risk.”
Large areas of Elgin will be protected from flooding as a result of the £86million project which is due to be completed early in 2015 – a total of 600 homes and 250 businesses should no longer be in fear of the Lossie.
The new river crossing will pass over a culvert that is wide enough to ensure flood water is carried away from the area – when the bridge does open it will mean the current temporary structure can be removed.