The Kessock Bridge ( gd, Drochaid Cheasaig) carries the A9 trunk road across the Beauly Firth at

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, Scotland.

Description

The Kessock Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Beauly Firth, an inlet of the

Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...

, between the village of

North Kessock North Kessock (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Ceasag a Tuath'' or ''Aiseag Cheasaig'') is a village on the Black Isle north of Inverness. Description North Kessock is the first village encountered over the Kessock Bridge. Now bypassed by the main ro ...

and the city of

in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

. The bridge has a total length of with a main span of . Designed by German engineer and built by

Cleveland Bridge Cleveland Bridge over the River Avon is a grade II* listed building located in the World Heritage Site of Bath, England. It is notable for the unusual lodges that adorn each corner in a style that could be likened to miniature Greek temples. ...

, it is similar to a bridge across the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. The Beauly Firth is a navigable waterway and hence the bridge is raised high over sea level. The four bridge towers dominate the Inverness skyline, especially at night when they are lit. The bridge carries the A9 trunk road north from

to the

Black Isle The Black Isle ( gd, an t-Eilean Dubh, ) is a peninsula within Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands. It includes the towns of Cromarty and Fortrose, and the villages of Culbokie, Jemimaville, Rosemarkie, Avoch, Munlochy, Tore, and Nor ...

. It is the southernmost of the "Three Firths" crossings (Beauly, Cromarty and

Dornoch Dornoch (; gd, Dòrnach ; sco, Dornach) is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray ...

) which has transformed road transport in the Highlands. It has proved a key factor in the growth of the city of Inverness. To protect against any potential seismic activity of the

Great Glen Fault The Great Glen Fault is a strike-slip fault that runs through the Great Glen in Scotland. The fault is mostly inactive today, but occasional moderate tremors have been recorded over the past 150 years. Location Aligned northeast to southwest, t ...

, the bridge includes

seismic buffers Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make such structures more resistant to earthquakes. An eart ...

in its construction. These buffers are at the north abutment, nearly over the line of the fault, and they supplement longitudinal restraint at Pier 7, the south main pier. Each buffer is just over long and weighs about . On the south side of the bridge is the

Caledonian Stadium Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish Professional Football League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. History Inverness Caledon ...

, home of

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

History

Prior to August 1982, travellers north of Inverness had the choice of the

Kessock Ferry The Kessock Ferry used to ply between Inverness and the Black Isle, across the Beauly Firth. It was withdrawn on the opening of the Kessock Bridge in 1982. Service The ferry crossed between North and South Kessock at the narrows between the Mora ...

or a 20 mile journey via Beauly. Cleveland Bridge were awarded the £17.5million contract in 1975 (). Construction on the bridge began in 1978, with completion and opening in 1982. It won the combined design and construction Saltire Society 1982 Civil Engineering Award in 1983. Transport Scotland estimated in 2012 that 30,000 vehicles per day were using the bridge. Since 2007, the 25th anniversary of its opening, the Kessock Bridge has featured on the obverse of the £100 note issued by the Bank of Scotland. The series of notes commemorates Scottish engineering achievements with illustrations of bridges in Scotland such as the Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Forth Bridge. The bridge's northbound carriageway was resurfaced between February and June 2013, followed by the southbound carriageway between February and June 2014. Both programmes of work were performed by Stirling Lloyd Construction Limited using their "Eliminator" bridge deck waterproofing system in combination with Aeschlimann AG's impermeable surfacing material. The new surface is guaranteed by the contractors for a period of 10 years, with a prediction that it will extend the life of the bridge by 10 to 20 years beyond that. In 2019, the bridge was awarded a Category B listed status by Historic Environment Scotland.

References

External links

{{commons category
Scottish Roads Archive - The Kessock Bridge

Eliminator-Datasheet
Bridges completed in 1982 Bridges in Highland (council area) Cable-stayed bridges in Scotland Road bridges in Scotland Transport in Highland (council area) 1982 establishments in Scotland Black Isle Buildings and structures in Inverness Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area)

Description

History

See also

References

External links