FEARS have been raised over the structural integrity of bridges in Dumfries and Galloway amid an inspection backlog.
Dumfries and Galloway Council chiefs recently admitted that they are failing to meet structural and safety compliance checks for bridges, with a backlog of inspections piling up.
Councillor Linda Dorward was shocked to learn that the council’s bridges and structures team has dropped from 15 to 10 in recent years – and that posts were deleted without explanation.
She described this move as “madness”, given that there are 1500 bridges spread across the region.
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This comes a year after Kirkcudbright Bridge was suddenly closed when engineers inspecting the location found structural and safety issues. It now operates with traffic restrictions and needs to be replaced.
The inspections issue was discussed by elected members at the council’s economy and infrastructure committee last Tuesday after they scrutinised a bridge and structures review report.
Councillor Dorward said: “The report says we’ll meet our statutory duties in terms of the general principal programme during 2026/27, but what happens if we have another Kirkcudbright Bridge?
“Because we don’t know what’s coming up. There are going to be surprises here – despite the fact that we don’t want surprises.”
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She added: “I’ve got serious concerns about the size of the team (bridges and structures), and the fact we’ve got agency staff who could probably go at any time.
“What are we doing about workforce planning? What are we doing about succession planning? What are we doing about moving forward and putting people back into this depleted team?”
The council is now being forced to seek external specialist support to address non-compliance with regulations.
As part of the external review of the region’s bridges, a review of the bridges and structures team will also be carried out in the aftermath of it reducing from 15 team members to 10 through early retirement/voluntary severance – and deletion of posts afterwards.
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Councillor Dorward said: “I don’t know why we thought that was a good idea, but it seems to be madness given where we are and the fact we’ve got 1500 bridges.
“We’ve got a team that’s been hauled out by over 50% and I think there’s something very, very wrong here.
“What are we doing to rebuild that team and put the technical the requisite technical expertise in place?”
Karen Brownlie, the council’s assistant director of transport and infrastructure, confirmed that the essential posts were deleted several years ago as part of a budget savings process.
She added: “I can’t confirm why that was agreed at that time. However, what I would say going forward for transport and infrastructure is that we are in the process of developing our people plan for the whole of the service, which obviously includes engineering design.
“That is looking at the workforce, it’s looking at succession planning, and everything that you highlighted there.”
As of the last review update in November 2025, just 73% of general/principal bridge inspections had been completed. The latest figure has not been provided.
The external review of the service and department is expected to be completed by June 2026, with any recommendations and next steps to be presented to councillors at the economy and infrastructure committee.
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