Publication - FOI/EIR release

Transport Scotland - Connel Bridge maintenance and spend information: EIR release

Published: 9 March 2026
Topic: Public sector, Transport
FOI reference: EIR/202500499779
Date received: 30 December 2025
Date responded: 28 January 2026

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

Information requested

A summary of the maintenance of Connel Bridge from the last 10 years, from 2015-2025.
The latest structural survey of the bridge, dated.
Details of any outstanding maintenance, and information on any scheduled maintenance which is due to take place in 2026.
Figures on the total spending on the bridge for all of the 2024/25 financial year and of the 2025/26 financial year to date.

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

1. You requested a summary of the maintenance of Connel Bridge from the last 10 years, from 2015- 2025.

Below is the information currently held by Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, outlining a brief summary of the recorded maintenance completed. You may also find the reports provided for Q2 useful.

2018 Vehicle Impact repairs to overhead beam
2020 Propping jacks installed to footway structure
2021 Deck beam repairs
2021 Height warning sign replacement
2021 8 refuge platforms. replaced like-for-like
2022/23 Installation of web stiffeners to cross girders (advance works to deck replacement scheme)
2022/23 Installation of pedestrian cantilevered walkway on east side
2023 Concrete repairs to selected areas of carriageway and footway soffit
2025 Replacement of Overhead beam following vehicle impact

2. You requested the latest structural survey of the bridge, dated.

Please note that 2025 inspection reports are still being prepared and therefore not available at this time.

Please see Binders 1 and 2 and Annex A provided with this response, for details of Connel Bridge surveys.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

3. You requested details of any outstanding maintenance, and information on any scheduled maintenance which is due to take place in 2026.

Below is the information currently held by Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, outlining a brief summary of the outstanding and planned maintenance for 2026.

Approach viaducts resurfacing and repairs to isolated surfacing defects on main structure. De-vegetation and topographical survey at North Connel parking/compound area (deck replacement advance works)

Cyclic Maintenance (6-monthly gully cleaning)
3 monthly structural inspections
6 monthly structural inspections
1 yearly structural inspection
3 monthly Safety inspections
Monthly CS470 surfacing inspections
3 monthly CS470 footway structure inspections
6 monthly CS470 carriageway soffit inspections

4. You requested figures on the total spending on the bridge for all of the 2024/25 financial year and of the 2025/26 financial year to date.

Below are the figures currently held by Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland. The figures provided include all costs associated with maintenance and repair including investigation, design and environmental surveys. The figures provided do not include for inspections, cyclic maintenance or winter maintenance on the bridge since these are included in lump sum payments for the whole North West trunk road unit. The figures provided for 2025/26 are up to the 22 January 2026 since the financial year is not yet complete.

2024/25 - £ 157,298.29
2025/26 - £ 203,085.87

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.