Built in 1912, the original Clyde River Bridge was an early example of reinforced concrete bridge construction in Scotland. Located on one of the main routes into the village of Carstairs Junction, a three-tonne weight limit had been in place for several years, until a routine inspection in 2018 found structural defects, which subsequently shut the bridge to all traffic.
The contract to construct the replacement bridge was awarded by South Lanarkshire Council to Eric Wright Civil Engineering in November 2022. Eric Wright then appointed Acrow Global (trading as Mabey Bridge) to manufacture and install the steel superstructure, which is a 90-metre single span Mabey Delta bridge with a 4.2-metre-wide carriageway and an additional internal footpath.
The Mabey Delta is a prefabricated modular bridging system designed for long-spanning permanent applications on main highways or in rural areas. It uses standardised, interchangeable steel components with full highway loading capability to provide a permanent, lightweight, steel bridging solution which can be configured for long-span applications.
For this project, the Delta was configured to Eurocode standards to facilitate connectivity between Carstairs and the surrounding villages and towns south of the river. The bridge was officially opened on 22nd April 2024.
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