Broken down A82 swing bridge over Caledonian Canal in Inverness finally reopens to traffic

A broken bridge in Inverness finally reopened to traffic on Saturday -- almost two weeks after its latest repair saga began.

The Torvean Bridge, which sits next to the much older Tomnahurich Bridge over the Caledonian Canal in Inverness, was initially closed due to a fault on Monday, March 25.

The swing bridge, which was designed to work in tandem with its older 'twin' to ensure one crossing is always open to road traffic on the busy A82, has had a troubled history in its short life.

READ MORE

New chapter in the Bridge of Sighs saga of canal crossing at Inverness

Caledonian Canal swing bridge at Inverness still out of action despite new part being fitted

Broken Inverness bridge could be out of action until Thursday

Since it opened in summer 2021, it has suffered a number of breakdowns - much to the embarrassment of Highland Council, which chose that lower cost crossing option over more expensive tunnel and high-level crossings when deciding on the final phase of the city's West Link.

The bridge's latest brush with repair crews struck late last month, and despite the necessary parts to repair it being fitted on Thursday it remained closed after another unconnected fault was detected - this time with cameras designed to monitor its safe operation.

In the most recent update, the council said it hoped to have engineers on site this weekend to fix the latest issue.

And it duly reopened on Saturday... although some less than charitable passing motorists wryly noted that the 'bridge closed' sign remained face down on site, joking that it was being kept close at hand ready to deploy for the next breakdown.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.