Aberdeenshire Council is seeking a specialist structural consultancy to undertake an assessment of Aboyne Bridge.

This vital element of investigatory work into the concrete disintegration in the structure's top deck will help the council to consider all options for the bridge.

The council is currently concluding the procurement process and hope to get a team on-site as soon as possible.

As part of the process, the Council's Bridges team has provided drawings, photographs and descriptions of its own invasive investigations so the consultants are suitably briefed and can begin their assessments quickly.

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From their own initial investigations, however, the council has said that it is clear that the bridge is in a very poor condition and that the cost of any reconstruction or replacement will be significant.

Meantime, officers and councillors will be attending a community drop-in session being hosted by Mid Deeside Community Council on Wednesday, 21 February at the Aboyne Scout Hut from 2.30pm-7pm. The event will be an open meeting with no fixed agenda where people can drop in to get information and pass information back in respect of the impacts of the closure.

A reminder that Aboyne Bridge – which carries the B968 Bridgeview Road over the River Dee – remains under an 18-month closure.

It is still in use for pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorised forms of transport only, and it is the council's hope that this can continue during the period of the closure. The diversion for vehicles is via Dinnet Bridge (B9158 road).