Edinburgh’s North Bridge refurb costs spiral to £86m

The refurbishment of Edinburgh’s iconic North Bridge is expected to continue until next summer, with costs spiralling five-fold after “significantly more deterioration” than expected was discovered in the structure.

Balfour Beatty was appointed seven years ago to carry out repairs to the Grade A-listed bridge, built in 1897 to link the city’s Old and New Towns.

The total project cost was initially put at £22.3m, including structural refurbishment works to be carried out by Balfour Beatty for just over £17m, with the job expected to take just over two years to complete.

However, the latest cost estimate is around £86m, after repairs to the historic three-arch bridge were found to be “technically and logistically” challenging, Edinburgh City Council said.

The last major refurbishment of the bridge took place in 1933 and some areas had not been accessed since the bridge was built, the council said.

“This is a major project with various technical challenges which needed a complex scaffolding to get into areas not accessed for 125 years,” the council said.

As well as structural steelwork repairs, Balfour Beatty is responsible for grit blasting and repainting the steelwork and carrying out repairs to the bridge’s cast iron facades and concrete deck.

It is also undertaking improvements to structural drainage systems, the replacement of expansion joints, the restoration of a war memorial and the installation of permanent platforms for future access.

Edinburgh City Council said the major work was due to wrap up by spring next year, with full completion expected in the summer.

“We know that the project has taken longer than we had initially anticipated, and are grateful to the local business community, residents and commuters for their patience,” it said.

“As we gained full access and work progressed, it became clear that the bridge needed more repairs than initially anticipated.

“This uncovered significantly more deterioration than first anticipated and the complexity of bringing a Victorian structure up to 21st century standards, without compromising its historic integrity, has proven challenging, technically and logistically.”

Balfour Beatty has been approached for comment.