A major maintenance project is set to take place on the M8 in West Lothian to refurbish the bridge carrying the motorway over the River Almond. The works, managed by BEAR Scotland, involve a comprehensive refurbishment and re-waterproofing of the bridge deck to ensure the long-term structural integrity and reliability of the crossing.

The programme of works includes the removal of the existing road surface to allow engineers to assess and conduct necessary concrete repairs. By addressing these underlying deck issues now, the project aims to minimize the future requirement for reactive emergency repairs and unplanned closures on this section of the motorway.

Work is scheduled to be carried out over two weekends: 8-11 May and 15-18 May. Should adverse weather conditions prevent progress, a contingency weekend has been identified for 5-8 June. The site team will make every effort to ensure the motorway is fully reopened following each period of weekend activity.

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David Bishop, BEAR Scotland's South East Unit Bridges Manager, said: "The project to refurbish and re-waterproof this bridge is essential to ensuring that it continues to provide a safe and reliable service for years to come. This should reduce the need for reactive closures of the M8 to repair defects caused by underlying bridge deck issues.

"The full extent of concrete repairs required will not be known until the existing surfacing is removed, however every effort will be made to ensure that the M8 is fully open to traffic each Monday morning at the end of the weekend working.

"These works are also weather dependent and so could be postponed and rearranged at short notice depending on weather forecasts.

"We thank motorists in advance for their patience and understanding. Our advice is to check the latest travel updates, allow extra travel time for journeys, and consider using alternative routes during weekend contraflows."

BEAR Scotland has consulted with emergency services and relevant stakeholders ahead of the project to ensure all parties are informed of the planned structural works.