Network Rail to invest £1.5m in Edinburgh bridge upgrade

Engineers will begin a £1.5m project to strength a bridge in the east of Edinburgh on Monday (26 August).

The structure, which sits on the A1140 Portobello Road at Craigentinny Avenue and over the East Coast Main Line, will be upgraded over the next three months by Network Rail.

Masonry repairs, the replacement of missing stonework, parapet extensions and painting work will all take place throughout during the works.

Drivers are being urged to plan ahead as a single lane road closure with three-way traffic light control will be in place from Monday and for the entirety of the project.

This will impact traffic on Craigentinny Avenue, Portobello Road Restalrig Avenue and Piersfield Terrace, but train services will be largely unaffected for the majority of the project.

Magda Rutkowska, project manager for Network Rail, said: “We’ve worked with the City of Edinburgh Council to plan and deliver the work required and have found a way to do this while avoiding the need to close the road completely.

“While we appreciate that disruption to the road network is never ideal, carrying out an extensive programme of repair and maintenance on the structure now will keep it operational for longer without any further significant interventions.

“We thank everyone for their patience and will carry out this work as quickly as possible.”

The extensive programme of work will extend the structure’s lifespan and is expected to reduce the maintenance requirement in the future.

To allow engineers to safely access the bridge, the site compound will be near the bridge at Piersfield Terrace and will use eight public parking spaces during the project.

The local community has been notified of the work which will be delivered both day and night shift and will also have two weekends of continuous working (22/23 and 29/30 September).

Those weekends will allow engineers to deliver more complex elements of the work safely and efficiently when the railway will be closed.