Mauldslie Bridge Improvements

Project Update July

We will be returned to work on Monday 6th July to continue carrying out improvements works in accordance with Government Construction COVID 19 Sector Guidance.

To find out more about Scottish Water's response to the Coronavirus, click here.

£1.3 million Investment Project Underway at South Lanarkshire Heritage Site

What we are doing

Scottish Water is investing around £1.3m in a project that will help protect its infrastructure and an important heritage site in South Lanarkshire.  The bridge was built in 1800s. It is owned by Scottish Water and provides access to Mauldslie Waste Water Treatment Works.
 
Work began in July 2019 and is expected to take around 12 months.  Mauldslie Bridge will be closed for the duration of the works to strengthen and protect the infrastructure, diversion signs are in place for alternative access routes.  Mackenzie Construction will be carrying out the work on our behalf.   

Joanna Peebles, Communications Manager at Scottish Water, said: “It’s vital that we carry out this work on Mauldslie Bridge to protect and preserve the bridge for years to come. Working in such beautiful surroundings with historical importance, we’re doing all we can to deliver this work respectfully and to help mitigate any impact on the local wildlife.

Stuart Sutherland is the project manager for the site. Explaining more about the measures being taken to protect the local area, he said:  “Protection measures have been put in place around an otter den that’s been spotted nearby and we also protected nesting bird sites within the bridge to allow the young birds to fledge before we started work".

In addition, bat surveys were carried out and we installed measures to exclude bats from the bridge. This involved checking every crack or hole in the bridge for the presence of bats and either preventing access or installing a bat gate which allowed the bats to leave but prevented their return.
 
Now that the bridge is clear of any wildlife which had taken up lodgings there, we can now push ahead with the repair work. Specialist stonemasons are being employed on the project to ensure the necessary care and attention is given on the restoration of this historical bridge.

Update March 2020

Our contracting partners Mackenzie Construction, consulting engineers M2 and specialist stonemansons Go-Wright have completed works on the over-hanging scaffolding, where the team replaced all of the bridge’s joints, rough and smooth pointing them with a lime mortar, replaced any original stonework that was damaged with new sandstone, removed and realigned the parapet walls.

Works are currently progressing on excavating the existing fill of each arch in the bridge, once the arches have been excavated, they will be filled with concrete, waterproofed then resurfaced.