North Ayrshire Council is investing more than £100,000 to get the replacement Bailey Bridge back on track.

Prolonged severe weather conditions over the festive period, and a delay in initial groundwork carried out by utility companies, means the project is 8 weeks behind schedule.

At a meeting of the full Council, Chief Executive Elma Murray requested permission to renegotiate with the contractors in order to speed up construction.

She explained: "There was a slight delay at the start of the project due to work which required to be carried out by utilities companies. More recently, the prolonged severe weather has caused a significant delay in work being carried out."

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The Chief Executive told Councillors at the meeting on Wednesday (24th February) that this investment would allow the contractor to secure the additional manpower and plant equipment required to bring the project back in line with the estimated completion time of mid April.

Without the investment, the bridge would not be able to open until the beginning of June.

Councillors agreed to the proposal, meaning the bridge could be open in the third week of April.

The new £3.5 million replacement bridge will link Irvine's town with the A71 between Milgarholm and Merryvale Roundabouts.

Closed in April 2009, the old bridge carried about 16,000 vehicles a day.

(GK/BMcC)