Levenmouth Rail Link: Date set for reopening of Leven’s Bawbee …

A date has been set for the opening of the new River Leven Road bridge, known locally as the Bawbee Bridge.

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The road will be fully re-opened to traffic at 10am on Monday, December 4 following the completion of work to rebuild the section above Leven station. Network Rail ^[2] engineers are now progressing work on the car park area of the new station.

The road diversion that has taken vehicles across the temporary bridge and onto the existing road network via the new roundabout at South Street will close and the bridge over the river will be removed.

The re-opening marks a significant milestone in the project after the A955 road bridge was completely rebuilt as the original structure showed significant signs of chlorine contamination and corrosion. A long-term weight restriction from the carriageway was removed following the reconstruction of the bridge.

The Leven Road (Bawbee) Bridge, which sits above the new Leven Station, will reopen to traffic from December 4.

The replacement bridge, which was delivered as part of the wider Levenmouth Rail Link programme, was funded by Fife Council ^[3] with the decision to carry out the work ahead of the railway opening reducing costs and ensuring it was delivered more efficiently.

Sean Clemie, Network Rail’s project manager for bridge works, said: “The completion of work on the Bawbee Bridge and the full reopening of the road are important steps forward for the project and the local community. Throughout the work, we have had significant interest from the community, with many people following its progress and turning out to watch key construction events such as the demolition and craning-in of the beams and parapets.

"The rail work now focuses on progressing the car park for the new Leven Station – with the first step being to remove the temporary diversion route and temporary road bridge.”

Councillor Colin Davidson, of Fife Council’s Levenmouth area committee, said: “It’s been great to watch the work to replace the bridge progress so well. And it’s great that we are now in a position where we can confirm that the road will reopen at the start of December. The replacement structure improves our local road network and removes the need for a weight restriction on the bridge.

"We appreciate the patience shown by local residents and the business community throughout this project and I’d like to thank Fife Council’s transportation staff for their support during this difficult and complex project.”

The original Bawbee Bridge was demolished in May and the temporary road bridge has supported 18,000 vehicle movements per day during the demolition work. Since the summer work has been ongoing to enable utilities to be reconnected across the structure.

Further work is planned in the area in the new year to develop and enhance active travel networks which will require some traffic management on the bridge.

References

^{^} Visit Shots! now (www.shotstv.com)
^{^} Network Rail (www.falkirkherald.co.uk)
^{^} Fife Council (www.falkirkherald.co.uk)