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IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
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A section of the bridge descended into the river on Sunday morning, with officers cordoning off the area.
The former railway bridge, which believed to be around 140 years old, is used by walkers and cyclists.
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https://www.thenational.scot/news/25696538.viaduct-collapses-river-spey-amid-weather-warnings/
Vid V informative
Looked like a stone support column had been washed out? On working railway it would have been surveyed more I suppose. Exceptional weather now the norm.
The Spey is moving to the East and has weakened the 140 year old structure. Shame I cycled over it to great effect on way to Cullen
“I cycled over it to great effect”
Perhaps you can ‘lead’ the campaign for a new bridge?!
Clearly the bridge won’t be restored - difficult and v expensive.
Apart from heritage/sentiment there is no need for something engineered to take the weight of a train.
As it’s Council owned, presume there is no question of insurance?
Question now is whether any Government body (or front organisation like ‘Sustrans’) will declare it to be vital transport/tourism infrastructure and promise to replace ASAP??
Richard Lochhead, local MSP, (mentioned in BBC article) could be key - “Minister for Business and Employment” since 2023.
There’s an election coming…
Visible on StreetView
https://maps.app.goo.gl/A5wMpFqGTZocz5HJ7
There’s vehicle access to the key point so it’s not as inaccessible as it first appears.
The fallen spans are likely beyond saving and should be broken up and removed IMO. They can fairly easily be replaced with a Bailey bridge that will last for another few decades at least.
The ground conditions will be more expensive to sort though, if a new pier is necessary.
The question is whether the link across the river is necessary or a nice-to-have; it's a bit like trying to cross the River Ouse south of York: if you're cycling south of Naburn, it's a long way to go before you reach the next bridge.
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"Moray Council engineers have now assessed the Garmouth Viaduct and on initial inspection can confirm the collapse appears to be due to scour. At the time of the last scour report, by a specialist contractor in 2023, there was no evidence of scour. It appears that over the last year the river flow path has changed, which may have contributed to a change of impact on the piers. We're in the process of instructing a specialist engineer to undertake a more detailed inspection and assessment and hope that this can be progressed before Christmas or early in the new year.
“In the immediate future the area around the structure will be made safe with clean-up works to avoid further damage with further detailed inspections necessary, by a specialist contractor, to determine any other works required. The longer-term future of the bridge will be considered in the new year after the initial clear up operation, with options presented to Councillors as soon as practicably possible. We’re well aware of the strength of feeling in the local community, and further afield, for this bridge and how well used it is by walkers and cyclists.
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https://newsroom.moray.gov.uk/news/garmouthspey-viaduct-update-15-december-2025
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“This is not a time to play a blame game, there are businesses and locals to whom this bridge is very important."
Eagle added: "It will require a partnership approach and that means the participation of the Scottish Government which is the only organisation with the clout to deliver a solution."
"There are other bridges, such as the Cloddach bridge at Elgin, and the Spey bridge at Cromdale, which are of serious concern too. We need to be far more serious about looking after our infrastructure so that we prevent incidents like this occurring in the future."
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Timmy Mallet, who became a household name as a children’s TV presenter in the 1980s and 1990s, described the bridge as a “national treasure” in the wake of its collapse.
The entertainment star previously rode across the historic Garmouth Viaduct, which it is sometimes referred to as, in 2022 when he cycled almost 5,000 miles around the British Isles.
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Interesting discussion on the SABRE forum which I would agree with, to wit, the maintenance of the bridge was less of an issue than maintenance of the river, which has meandered very much over the decades.
I suspect the primary problem was the direction of the current, having shifted from south to north to at best, southwest to northeast past the bridge and in some instances probably approximating west to east. On the 1870 OS map the main river channel was in the middle, and the main arch section was built over that within 15 years or so. Even by 1903 the main channel was no longer under the arch but the shorter link spans to the east, and this was still the case in the 1960s but with an additional channel formed to the west.
I'm not sure that Moray council is financially sound enough for both substantial river works and now bridge works as well.
I think in the short term a temporary light duty crossing could be erected a short distance upstream, say between Bogmuir and Bow Bridge, and if it was limited to pedestrians and cyclists, there would be no great need for strength. Even the traditional Bailey Bridge would be more than up to the task.
One might say they are in need of PONTOONTITUTION!
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pontoontitution
(I made a promise to try and make this a word)
This has some interesting air photos of the change in the course of the river over time. It's striking how it's moved.
I know a person who did. Her PhD on this a good while back. Where the mouth of the estuary is moving,
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