Bridges
20 NSC
Annual Review
Covering a distance of 58km, the
Aberdeen Western Peripheral
Route/Balmedie to Tipperty
(AWPR/B-T) is the longest road
building project currently under way in
the UK.
Designed to significantly improve travel
in and around Aberdeen and the north
east of Scotland, the scheme is being
delivered by a joint venture that includes
Balfour Beatty, Morrison Construction and
Carillion.
One of main reasons for the project is the
fact that Aberdeen lies at the intersection
of several major roads, including the A90
and A96 trunk roads. Currently traffic has
to travel through the city, making journeys
difficult and time-consuming.
Meanwhile, the existing Balmedie to
Tipperty road is recognised as a bottleneck.
The single carriageway, which carries some
22,000 vehicles per day, is heavily affected
by peak traffic flow during the morning
commute.
Alleviating these problems, the new
AWPR/B-T will consist mainly of a new
dual two-lane carriageway. However, the
carriageway will be dual three-lane for a
short section between the North Kingswells
and Craibstone Junctions and between
Charleston and the next junction to the
south at Findon on the existing A90.
The project provides a bypass for longdistance
traffic while facilitating peripheral
movement for shorter journeys, therefore
removing traffic from both the city areas
and unsuitable rural and urban local roads.
Constructing such a long highway
around a major conurbation brings with it
the need for bridges – 75 to be exact on this
scheme. Many of these structures are minor,
but eight major bridges are steel composite
structures fabricated, supplied and erected
by Cleveland Bridge.
The bridges vary in length but all have
a similar steel composite design. They
are constructed with pairs of steel braced
girders supporting a concrete deck slab.
All of them are single-span bridges with
the exception of the two-span A93 North
Deeside Road Overbridge.
According to a Transport Scotland
spokesperson: “Steel was selected for the
structures where the bridge geometry was
Bridging the granite
city’s bypass
A total of eight steel composite bridges have been
constructed as a vital component of the Aberdeen
Western Peripheral Route.
FACT FILE
Aberdeen Western
Peripheral Route/
Balmedie to Tipperty
bridges
Main client:
Transport Scotland,
Aberdeen City Council,
Aberdeenshire Council
Main contractor:
AWPR Construction
Joint Venture
Steelwork contractor:
Cleveland Bridge
Steel tonnage: 1,350t
A90
A90
A497
A96
A90
A90
A90
A956
A944
A93
ABERDEEN
CITY
R iver De e
River Don
Tipperty
Charleston
Blackdog Junction
Underbridge (North)
Blackdog Junction
Underbridge (South)
A956 Charleston
Junction Overbridge
B977 Echl to
Balmedie Road West
Overbridge
A96 Aberdeen to
Inverness Trunk Road
Underbridge
Craibstone Junction
Underbridge
A93 North Deeside
Road Overbridge
A90 Underbridge
Girders are lifted in for
the A93 North Deeside
Overbridge