Moray councillors asked to pay for speedy repairs to damaged Pittendreich bridge

Councillors will be asked to dip into £80,000 of reserves to quickly repair a bridge near Elgin that's been hit be a lorry.

Pittendreich bridge on the B9010 road to Dallas suffered significant damage to one of its parapets on Saturday evening.

Although reopened to traffic with barriers and traffic lights installed, there is a risk that further damage could result in the bridge closing.

That would mean a long detour for motorists between Elgin and Dallas.

The issue will be discussed at a meeting of Moray Council on Wednesday.

Discussions are underway with the owner of the lorry that caused the damage.

While the cost of repairs is expected to be recovered there are no guarantees,

There are also other costs involved, including an annual bill of £23,000 for the traffic lights that have been installed.

In addition, if the bridge were to close, it would hike up the cost of school transport by £200 a day.

In her report to Wednesday's meeting, consultancy manager Debbie Halliday writes: "To facilitate early repair work it is proposed that the required funding of around £80,000 be made available from the council’s reserves.

"This money would be returned to reserves once the costs have been recovered.

"If further damage to the bridge is sustained it is likely the bridge will need to be closed, causing significant disruption to people travelling between Elgin and Dallas."

The nearby Viewmill bridge on the C26E road to Mosstowie is also closed until October after it was struck by a vehicle last month

Meanwhile, the Cloddach bridge is currently only open to walkers and cyclists, although £1.5million was recently pledged by the Westminster government to reopen it.

However, the estimated cost of replacing it is more than £3 million.

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