The replacement of worn pendel bearings for the A9 Kessock Bridge, Inverness

The A9 is the primary trunk route in the Scottish Highlands and bypasses the City of Inverness by means of the Kessock Bridge, a major cable stayed structure spanning the Beauly Firth and opened to traffic in 1982. The bridge is a 1052m long viaduct with a main cable stayed span of 240m, 80m back spans and a number of 64m and 72m approach spans. At the ends of the 80m back spans, four pendel bearings were installed to accommodate the uplift reaction due to loading on the main span. These pendel bearings became excessively worn over time and required replacement.

This paper describes the design and construction issues associated with replacement of these critical structural elements, an operation made more challenging by the very constrained geometry and the need to maintain overall stability of the bridge under operational traffic conditions.

• Introduction

• Options

• Design

• Contract and Traffic Management

• Construction

• Conclusion

• Acknowledgements