Poorly maintained footbridge in the Dean Village closed

The footbridge in the Dean Village at Damside and Hawthornbank Lane, within Edinburgh’s World Heritage site, has been closed for Health and Safety reasons. You can see from the picture that the steps are badly eroded. A survey which was carried out by our surveyor in 2018 has said that the metal structure appears to be sound (see second feasibility study, section 4.45).

It is worrying and clear that CEC have not been investing in general ongoing maintenance of the bridge and its walkway, thus allowing it to get into such poor condition.

Many people taking their daily Covid-19 walk have had to turn away and cross the river on another bridge.

The Natural Heritage Service of the CEC are going to investigate after the lock down whether it is repairable in the near future. However, because of CEC’s lack of resources the usual modus operandi is to fence off areas which they cannot afford to restore.

So don’t hold your breath that the bridge will be open anytime soon.