Kessock Bridge
Route
The Kessock Bridge crosses the narrow channel between the Moray and Beauly Firths from Inverness to North Kessock on the Black Isle and carries the A9 dual-carriageway road. Completion of the bridge, together with that of another over the Cromarty Firth to the north a few years earlier, chopped over 10 miles off the journey to the far north, and other improvements have since shortened the distance still further.
Bridge
Completed in 1982, the bridge, which is cable-stayed, has a total length of 1052m and a main span of 240m. It was then the largest cable-stayed bridge in Europe. The design, by German engineer Hellmut Homberg, is based on that of a crossing of the River Rhine at Düsseldorf and the bridge won the Saltire Award for Civil Engineering Construction. To protect it from the adverse effects of any seismic activity on the Great Glen Fault it incorporates seismic buffers – the first bridge in Europe to do so.
It opened on 19 July 1982 with initially two way traffic on the eastern carriageway with no overtaking. Both carriageways were to open after the official opening on 6 August 1982 by the Queen Mother.
History
Before the bridge opened, a ferry crossed the Beauly Firth from Inverness to North Kessock. In 1937 the crossing was made by a steamer, which could carry no more than one or two cars at a time. The service was hourly, changing depending on time of year, weather and state of the tide. By 1963, things had improved somewhat, with a half-hourly service from either side able to carry 8-10 cars. The crossing took seven minutes and cost 3s per car. In peak season, the service was a shuttle, running every 15 minutes from either side, between (approx) 7am and 11pm.
When the original plans for the A9 upgrade were announced in the late 1960s, the government were focussing on the Perth to Inverness section. However, following a vociferous local campaign, which included at least one local MP, options for continuing the works north of Inverness was investigated. In 1970 one of the supporting MPs became a cabinet member and so the campaign gathered momentum, and by 1975 tenders for a bridge across the narrows of the Beauly Firth at Kessock were being sought. Before this, one of the draft proposals had been to provide an on-line upgrade, with bypasses and some dualled sections, but the campaigners seized the momentum and pushed for a shorter route from Inverness to the north.
The first design proved too expensive for the treasury, so instead the unusual decision (for the time) to launch a design and build tender process was made, with six designs subsequently put forward. The chosen design was the cheapest, but with rising cost pressures in the late 1970s still worked out almost as expensive as the original design had been. Due to various delays in this process, the 1.5 mile approach roads had been completed in 1975 (per the 1975 Scottish Development Department Report), but work on the bridge did not begin until spring 1978.
Ferries
The following vehicle ferries operated on the Kessock service, in addition to a fleet of passenger ferries. Most of the vessels were operated by the Kessock Ferry Committee - a partnership between Inverness Town Council and Ross and Cromarty County Council.
Name | IMO | Operator | Dates | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glenachulish | Kessock Ferry Committee; Highland Council | 1975-82 (Relief only) | 6 Cars - No IMO MarineTraffic | |
Rosehaugh | 6702363 | Kessock Ferry Committee; Highland Council | 1967-82 | 17 Cars |
Inbhir Nis | Kessock Ferry Committee | 1953-67 | 4 Cars | |
Eilean Dubh | Kessock Ferry Committee | 1951-82 | 8 Cars | |
St Mawes | Kessock Ferry Committee | 1942-51 | 5 Cars | |
Hope | Kessock Ferry Committee | 1939-42 | 3 Cars | |
Lowestoft Belle | William MacDonald | 1921-36 | 1/2 Cars |
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