The Jubilee Bridge is a road bridge over the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

near

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundar ...

in Scotland. The bridge conveys the A9 road over the river. A concrete box bridge also joins the Jubilee Bridge at its southern end as it carries the A9 over the

Highland Main Line The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the central Scottish Highlands, mainly following the route of the A9 road (Scotland), A9, and linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth, Scotland, ...

. The area of the River Tay below the bridge is accessible for personal watercraft and walkers. As part of the

A9 dualling project The A9 dualling project is an ongoing Scotland, Scottish infrastructure project to upgrade the A9 road (Scotland), A9 road between Perth, Scotland, Perth and Inverness from single carriageway to a dual carriageway. The project was announced in 2 ...

, the bridge will be duplicated by 2032.

History

Before the bridge was secured in place, much of the bridge works took place north of the river. The bridge was named after the

Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the Silver jubilee, 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth ...

and completed in May 1977. The bridge is composed of a concrete reinforced deck supported by steel girders in three spans and on two pairs of piers that are positioned at the edge of the river. The bridge construction cost £1.3 million and the consulting engineers for the project were Babtie Shaw & Morton. The bridge has footpaths on both sides. The construction of the bridge is featured in the 1982 documentary ''A9 Highland Highway'' about the reconstruction of the A9 now in the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

. The bridge received a Civic Trust award for the effectiveness of its integration with the adjacent landscape.

Improvements

In December 2018, essential works were carried out on the bridge to replace a damaged joint to ensure the bridge remained safe for traffic. In 2018 and 2019, boreholes and trial pits were dug adjacent to the bridge in preparation for improvements. The bridge will be duplicated in the

(Tay Crossing to

Ballinluig Ballinluig (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Baile an Luig'') is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the banks of the River Tummel in Logierait Parish, and is approximately southeast of Pitlochry. It developed with the building of th ...

) with improvement works expected between 2025 and 2032. The project (and therefore the second bridge) was supposed to be complete in 2025, but delays to the project meant that the doubled bridge will be finished by 2032 instead with the project as a whole finished in 2035.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Tay Bridge (A9) on Sabre Roads
Bridges across the River Tay Road bridges in Scotland Transport in Dundee Bridges completed in 1977