North Bridge renovation nears completion.
Exclusive:The remarkable transformation of one of Edinburgh's most famous bridges revealed
After eight years being shrouded in white plastic and scaffolding, one of Edinburgh’s most famous bridges is to finally re-emerge with stunning new paintwork after an £86 million overhaul.
The project to refurbish North Bridge, which spans Waverley Station between the Old and New Towns, will cost four times as much and take four times as long as the original estimate when it is completed next year because it was found to be in significantly worse condition than expected.
But a wow factor lies in store for those missing the sight of the familiar arches for so long when the wraps come off the structure, as The Scotsman saw at first hand in a behind-the-scenes tour of the work on Wednesday.
The original Victorian ornamentation on the sides of the bridge, such as hanging fruit and flowers, shine out in gold, red, blue and black hues.
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson helping with the painting work on North Bridge on Wednesday
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson helping with the painting work on North Bridge on Wednesday | John Devlin/The Scotsman
Meantime, a memorial erected in 1906 to the King’s Own Scottish Borderers on the bridge’s eastern parapet is being painstakingly restored using hot water and toothbrush-size tools.
Comprising figures of four soldiers, it commemorates the regiment’s part in conflicts including in Afghanistan, Egypt and South Africa between 1878 and 1902.
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson and Balfour Beatty project manager Rory McFadden with a memorial to the King's Own Scottish Borderers being refurbished on the bridge
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson and Balfour Beatty project manager Rory McFadden with a memorial to the King's Own Scottish Borderers being refurbished on the bridge | John Devlin/The Scotsman
Two-way traffic on the bridge was restored in March after a six-week northbound closure.
However, only one third of the width of the bridge remains in use, with two narrow traffic lanes and the pavement on the west side open for pedestrians.
Only one third of the bridge width is open during the latest phase o f the work
Once the project is complete, the social enterprise Hidden Cities, which trains homeless people as tour guides, is planning to add the bridge to the tours of the city it offers.
Scotland’s transport links are the lifeblood of the nation - subscribe today to our Transport newsletter
In one of the most remarkable aspects to the project, a 165m long access platform for future maintenance of the underside of the bridge has been assembled from 60,000 pieces that were passed through 0.9m long manhole covers in the bridge deck.
Exclusive:The remarkable transformation of one of Edinburgh's most famous bridges revealed
After eight years being shrouded in white plastic and scaffolding, one of Edinburgh’s most famous bridges is to finally re-emerge with stunning new paintwork after an £86 million overhaul.
The project to refurbish North Bridge, which spans Waverley Station between the Old and New Towns, will cost four times as much and take four times as long as the original estimate when it is completed next year because it was found to be in significantly worse condition than expected.
But a wow factor lies in store for those missing the sight of the familiar arches for so long when the wraps come off the structure, as The Scotsman saw at first hand in a behind-the-scenes tour of the work on Wednesday.
The original Victorian ornamentation on the sides of the bridge, such as hanging fruit and flowers, shine out in gold, red, blue and black hues.
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson helping with the painting work on North Bridge on Wednesday
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson helping with the painting work on North Bridge on Wednesday | John Devlin/The Scotsman
Meantime, a memorial erected in 1906 to the King’s Own Scottish Borderers on the bridge’s eastern parapet is being painstakingly restored using hot water and toothbrush-size tools.
Comprising figures of four soldiers, it commemorates the regiment’s part in conflicts including in Afghanistan, Egypt and South Africa between 1878 and 1902.
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson and Balfour Beatty project manager Rory McFadden with a memorial to the King's Own Scottish Borderers being refurbished on the bridge
City council transport convener Stephen Jenkinson and Balfour Beatty project manager Rory McFadden with a memorial to the King's Own Scottish Borderers being refurbished on the bridge | John Devlin/The Scotsman
Two-way traffic on the bridge was restored in March after a six-week northbound closure.
However, only one third of the width of the bridge remains in use, with two narrow traffic lanes and the pavement on the west side open for pedestrians.
Only one third of the bridge width is open during the latest phase o f the work
Once the project is complete, the social enterprise Hidden Cities, which trains homeless people as tour guides, is planning to add the bridge to the tours of the city it offers.
Scotland’s transport links are the lifeblood of the nation - subscribe today to our Transport newsletter
In one of the most remarkable aspects to the project, a 165m long access platform for future maintenance of the underside of the bridge has been assembled from 60,000 pieces that were passed through 0.9m long manhole covers in the bridge deck.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'm Alistair Dalton, the Scotsman's transport correspondent.
00:03I'm in the centre of Edinburgh today to go inside one of the city's most famous crossings,
00:10North Bridge, which spans Waverley Station,
00:14which is undergoing an £86 million refurbishment.
00:19The bridge has been under wraps for the last eight years,
00:23and next year the work should be finally complete.
00:27We were taken behind the scenes to see at close quarters the most significant work on the bridge since the 1930s,
00:34including restoration of stonework and some intricate painting.
00:39My name's Rory McFadden. I'm the project director for Balfour Beedie on the Edinburgh North Bridge refurbishment project.
00:45The main work we've been involved in was building the temporary work scaffold, first of all.
00:48That allowed us access to undertake the refurbishment of the structural steelwork,
00:52the concrete bridge deck, the blasting and painting of the steelwork then,
00:56and also the reinstallation of the facade.
00:58The bridge was in much worse condition than anyone could expect to find it.
01:01It wasn't until we built our access scaffold,
01:04it was the first time anyone had up-close access to the bridge since the 1990s.
01:08A lot of the structural steelwork, or all of the structural steelwork,
01:11was covered in a thick, bituminous paint,
01:14and it wasn't until we started removing that
01:16that we could understand the true condition of the steelwork that was obscured behind that paint.
01:20It's a William Arle structure, also famous for the Forth Bridge,
01:24and other bridges throughout the UK, and Gooden Tower Bridge down in London.
01:27There was a famous quote, or one of the famous quotes by Sir William Arle was that
01:31scaffolding of a peculiar nature had to be constructed when he built the bridge,
01:35and over a hundred years later we're still constructing scaffold of a peculiar nature
01:40to undertake the refurbishment.
01:42We've been working on the project since 2018, but we are near in completion now.
01:45Over the last number of months we started applying the final gold paint to the structure,
01:50and that's given everybody a bit of morale boost to get it over the line,
01:54so the work should be substantially complete by Spring 2026.
01:58We'll slowly unveil the bridge, removing the scaffolds,
02:01and we should be off the structure by Summer 2026.
02:04My name's Councillor Stephen Jenkinson,
02:06and I'm the Transport and Environment Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council.
02:10So this is a hugely important piece of Edinburgh's transport infrastructure.
02:16It's a main transport link to move people north and south,
02:21and it's a very historic piece of Edinburgh's architecture.
02:26Why the need for all this refurbishment work?
02:28There were structural defects identified which we needed to put right
02:33to ensure that this bridge is protected for future generations.
02:36There are a number of reasons for it.
02:42It's a hugely complex project.
02:45It's been over 90 years since the last major refurbishment of this bridge,
02:51and through that time there has been obviously some wear and tear
02:56that we're looking to rectify.
02:57We have to take into account that the bridge is above a major train station,
03:02which makes the project quite complex,
03:06and also we've been very careful to ensure that we've maintained access to the bridge,
03:12north and south, and south and north,
03:14both for pedestrians and for traffic at various points of the project,
03:19which has essentially elongated the process.
03:21We have also elongated the process.
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