A £600,000 project to extend the life of the Cot House Bridge will get underway next month, with motorists warned to expect delays until the end of the year.
Work on the bridge is scheduled to begin during the second week of October and will see its road surface stripped away to allow engineers to inspect the concrete structure beneath.
Both the bridge and access to Cot House service station will remain open throughout the project, although traffic management will be in place as contractors work on one lane at a time.
The full extent of the repairs will not be known until the bridge deck has been exposed.
Once the existing road surface has been removed, engineers will examine the concrete deck and carry out any necessary repairs before waterproofing and resurfacing it.
The lane will then reopen and the process will be repeated on the opposite side.
Defects underneath the bridge will also be exposed and repaired as part of the £600,000 project.
Argyll and Bute Council currently expects the work to continue until the end of the year, although it warned the completion date will depend on what engineers discover once the concrete is exposed, the complexity of any repairs required and weather conditions.
The project is being funded through the Local Maintenance Bridge Fund secured by the council’s Infrastructure Design Team.
It forms part of a wider programme which will see four bridges strengthened and another four replaced across Argyll and Bute.
Councillor John Armour, the council’s policy lead for Roads, Transport and Amenity Services, said the local authority was responsible for around 900 bridges across the region.
He said: “Some are more than 100 years old and were not designed for today’s volume and weight of traffic.
“Even more modern bridges are affected by the west of Scotland climate and need regular care.
“Thank you for your patience while we carry out this vital work to keep Cot House Bridge in service for many years to come.”
Motorists have been advised to allow additional time for journeys while the traffic management arrangements are in place.
