Hunt on for owner of collapsing Sutherland bridge after Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries raise fears falling masonry could impede salmon migration
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A SEARCH has been launched to find the owner of a redundant Sutherland road bridge, parts of which are falling into the river below.
The move is being made after Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries expressed concern that falling masonry from the Inveran Bridge at Invershin could impede the migration of salmon. Some 40 tons of stone are thought to have fallen earlier this year.
There is also public safety fears regarding the near 200-year-old, B listed structure.
Highland Council is listed as the bridge’s owner in Landownership Scotland, but in an email to interested parties, head of infrastructure Colin Howell said: “We have established that the bridge is not adopted and that Highland Council do not own it.”
However the authority has asked its legal department to search for the bridge’s owner.
In the meantime additional steps are being taken to ban access and a structural survey is to be commissioned to find out what needs to be done ensure the bridge is safe.
Mr Howell stated that if the owner was not found, then the authority’s duty would “merely be to exclude public access”.
Historic Environment Scotland has confirmed the bridge would be a candidate for funding but an application would have to be made by the owner.
