Impeccable credentials lie behind choice of a Swiss asphaltic material to surface Kessock bridge's 'dynamic' deck. News that Balfour Beatty has won a ￡13.2M contract to refurbish Kessock cable stayed bridge is of interest to bridge buffs particularly in regard to its new surfacing. Kessock has a comparatively slender deck which - given temperature differentials in the Highlands -is highly susceptible to thermal movement. Just what Transport Scotland will specify for the bridge deck's surfacing has been the question, knowing the tendency of conventional asphalts to debond. The answer is Gussasphalt, a Swiss material which is proving itself around Europe, not least across England's river Avon (see box). Kessock Bridge opened in 1982 to carry the A9 on its way north from Inverness to the Black Isle. The six lane structure (twin two lane carriageways plus two pedestrian/cycle lanes) is 1056m long with two twin arrays of cable stays supporting a 240m long central span. It was designed with a slender profile that inadvertently tends to ensure its surfacing does not last.
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