Council sets priorities for flood protection and bridge improvements across Moray

This year’s programme includes £261,000 for flood risk management and £600,000 for bridge maintenance, made up of £197,000 revenue and £403,000 capital funding. These budgets will support essential maintenance, targeted repairs and high priority investment across Moray’s infrastructure. 

Flood protection work will continue across existing Council flood schemes in Aberlour, Rothes, Elgin, Forres, Dallas, Newmill and Lhanbryde. Grant funding means that continued collaboration on the coastal adaptation work includes examining the impact of historical wartime defences on coastal erosion and an initial review of the sea defence at Cullen. 

Key projects for 2026/27 include: 

• Tyock Burn culvert repairs (£75,000) 

• Craigellachie trash screen replacement (£15,000) 

• Construction of a new drawdown facility at Millbuies Reservoir (£150,000 capital) 

• Grant funded fish passage improvements at Rothes Burn (approx. £310,000) 

Routine works such as inspections, telemetry maintenance, vegetation management, and monitoring of flood assets will continue throughout the year.  

Moray Council’s bridges and culverts continue to face pressure from age, weather impacts and increasing storm events. Planned works include: 

• Maintenance works at Garrowood Bridge, Birkenhill Bridge, Whitehilloch Bridge, Bridgend Bridge and the Lecht Cattlegrid  

• A structural assessment of Carron Bridge  

• Reactive repairs to address issues such as collision damage  

• Replacement of the failed expansion joint on New Craigellachie Bridge 

• Installation of the new Sanquhar Loch footbridge 

• Refurbishment of Sourden Culvert 

• Possible repairs to the Aberlour Burn suspension bridge, depending on remaining funds 

Alongside its road network bridges, Moray Council also maintains 120 non-network bridges, which mainly support active travel routes including walking and cycling paths.  

A new prioritisation policy formalises how these bridges are assessed and ranked for maintenance and capital investment. The system makes sure limited funding is focused where it will have the greatest benefit for safety, connectivity and community access. 

Non-network bridges are prioritised using two core measures - network criticality where each bridge is given a High, Medium or Low criticality rating based on how important the route is; and bridge condition score as every bridge undergoes a general inspection every three years and its condition is scored from 1 (very good) to 5 (very poor), with critical elements assessed separately.  

The priority score = Network Criticality × Condition Score, with higher scores indicating bridges needing more urgent investment. 

Cllr Marc Macrae, Chair of the Economic Development and Infrastructure Services Committee, said: “This programme allows us to focus our resources where they matter most. From essential flood scheme maintenance to the refurbishment of key bridges, these works strengthen the resilience of our communities and support everyday travel. 

“The new prioritisation method for nonnetwork bridges also means we can better plan investment in the active travel routes that so many residents rely on.” 

The full reports to committee, including the bridge prioritisation details, can be found here.