Spencer Bridge Engineering has solidified its reputation as a leading bridge works specialist in Scotland by securing three new contracts for major projects on the Kessock Bridge, Forth Road Bridge, and Tay Road Bridge, with works scheduled for 2025 and 2026.

Having previously designed and installed a new underdeck gantry on the Kessock Bridge in 2018, the Yorkshire-based firm has been reappointed for further work on the structure which crosses the Beauly Firth at Inverness. This new project involves steelwork modifications, strengthening, and painting within the bridge's four towers. These enhancements aim to improve access through the towers and integrate a rescue system, significantly boosting safety for personnel working inside the pylons by enabling rapid emergency rescue. The project requires close collaboration with the client, BEAR Scotland, and their designers, Jacobs, to ensure efficient delivery of the complex steelwork modifications.

In a separate contract, Spencer Bridge Engineering will undertake crucial work on the Forth Road Bridge, which connects Edinburgh to Fife. The team will replace the bridge's lateral thrust bearings, which date back to the original construction in the early 1960s and are now at the end of their serviceable life. This task, part of the Forth Road Bridge Critical Element Programme, involves the installation of significant temporary steelwork to facilitate the replacement operation near the bridge towers, including steelwork strengthening, painting, and complex temporary access solutions under the bridge deck. Enabling works are planned for 2025, with the main bearing replacement works scheduled for 2026 to take advantage of favourable weather conditions.


Completing the trio of Scottish projects, Spencer Bridge Engineering has also been appointed to replace two underdeck gantries on the Tay Road Bridge, which links Dundee to Newport-on-Tay. The existing gantries have been in place since the 1980s. Spencer's in-house design team will lead the complex structural, mechanical, and electrical design for this £5 million project. The new gantries will incorporate innovative design features, including a web traction drive system for propulsion. Working closely with the client, Tay Road Bridge Joint Board, and their consultant WSP, Spencer's team will remove the existing gantries before installing and commissioning the new ones.

Alan Hutchinson, Bridge Manager at Tay Road Bridge Joint Board, commented on the collaboration: "I am very much looking forward to working with the Spencer team on this very important project. These new state of the art under bridge inspection gantries will play a crucial role in helping us keep the bridge safe for all of our 26,000 daily users far into the future."

Spencer Bridge Engineering, part of the Spencer Group, has a 30-year history of working on Scotland's bridges, roads, rail environments, and marine infrastructure.

Glen Smithson, Operations Director at Spencer Bridge Engineering, said: "Having the ability to provide turnkey solutions, delivering both the design and installation works, enables us to have tight control of each element of the project and ensure we are delivering the highest quality works in the most efficient way. Our ethos of having strong collaboration with our clients ensures our projects are more closely tailored to each client's individual needs and specifications. Our teams are adept at working in remote, exposed locations, with difficult logistics, which is another factor which makes us so well equipped to work on so many Scottish infrastructure projects."