The countdown to repair the Causewayhead Road Bridge, Stirling (A9 - Stevenson Bridge) over the River Forth has begun.

The "B-listed" five-span masonry road bridge needs essential repair work to be carried out to stop it from deteriorating further.

From Sunday June 28 the road will be reduced to one-way northbound traffic only for up to 7 weeks during the school holidays. The road will be closed to all southbound traffic accessing the bridge from the Causewayhead/Cornton direction; alternative route diversions will be put in place.

The one-way system will allow public utility companies Scotland Gas Networks (SGN) and Scottish Water to carry out essential repairs to pipelines buried within the bridge’s structure. If the repair work is not carried out then the bridge will continue to deteriorate and will no longer be able to function fully as a main road crossing into Stirling.

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The bridge, which is an important road crossing of the River Forth, was designed by Robert Stevenson and built in 1831 and has lasted well past its 100 years life expectancy; carrying far greater traffic volumes than it was designed for. There is now an internal weakness within the sandstone slabs supporting the carriageway and the parapets are in a very poor condition. To extend the life of the bridge and carryout all the necessary work will take several years to complete and needs to be done in several phases to minimise disruption.

The first phase, which starts at the end of June 2009, is to repair the internal damage to the bridge caused over a number of years by burst water pipes leaking down into the sandstone slabs. Damage has also been done to the protective waterproof layer, which is now in need of replacement.

Stirling Council's Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Environment Service's Roads and Transport Service Councillor Jim Thomson said: "We apologise for any inconvenience this lane closure may cause to local residents, businesses and visitors to Stirling. We would like to stress that this is not a full road closure, and will mainly affect traffic accessing the city from the Causewayhead and Cornton direction.

"This planned programme of essential repair work has been co-ordinated by our Roads Engineers with the assistance of Scotland Gas Networks and Scottish Water to ensure that any disruption is minimised."

Stirling Council has informed bus operators of the planned programme of works and revised bus timetables for this period will be available soon.

(GK/JM)