Exclusive:Scotland's newest bridge will close for 3 hours for large ships to pass

The Renfrew crossing will be the first opening road bridge on the Clyde.

Scotland's newest bridge will close to traffic for up to three hours to allow ships to pass, The Scotsman has learned.

Renfrew Bridge, the only opening road crossing on the Clyde, is expected to shut on average around once every two weeks, when large vessels head up the river into Glasgow.

Renfrew Bridge is the first opening road crossing on the Clyde | John Devlin/The Scotsman

The bridge is due to open to traffic between Renfrew and Clydebank on Friday, May 9 - three miles from the Clyde Tunnel, the nearest upstream crossing, and five miles from the Erskine Bridge downstream.

The three-hour closures will be required when “category one” ships sail east upstream - vessels longer than 160m or 23m wide (beam) - because of their size and stopping distance.

Renfrewshire Council said such lengthy bridge openings were “anticipated to be infrequent”. The local authority said there had been 92 such incidences in the past four years - the equivalent of one every 16 days.

But the council said such vessels sailing west, downstream, would require the bridge to open only at least 30 minutes before they passed the crossing, because they would notify officials before leaving dock.

It said opening times for smaller vessels would be “significantly less”. The bridge’s opening mechanism was first tested in August last year.

The council said information about bridge closures for road traffic would be be posted as early as possible on digital traffic signs in the surrounding area, and on the council website, to alert drivers and cyclists to use alternative routes.

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Its spokesperson said: “The new Renfrew Bridge is an operational bridge across the River Clyde and will need to close to road traffic and active travel on occasion to allow for passing vessels on the waterway.

The bridge will connect Renfrew with Clydebank | John Devlin/The Scotsman

“The number of three-hour closures required for category one vessels will be infrequent, with closures for all other vessels being significantly shorter.

“Each period of closure will depend on the tide, other environmental factors and the type of vessel. Traffic management plans are in place to ensure any closures are communicated in advance and alternative routes can be used.”

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Scotland-based road safety consultant Neil Greig said: “Most bridge users will accept the odd closure as a reasonable price to pay for the improved access that the crossing brings.

“However, information will need to be a lot more detailed than just ‘on occasion’, with accurate information on the timings and duration of any disruption made available at bridge entry points.”

The 184m span between Meadowside Street in Renfrew and Dock Street in Clydebank is of a similar cable stay design to the Queensferry Crossing, with its twin-leaf structure opening horizontally.

The crossing is the sixth new span across the Clyde over the past four decades following the Govan-Partick Bridge last September, the Squiggly (Tradeston) Bridge in the city centre in 2009, the Squinty Bridge (Clyde Arc) beside the SEC in 2006, the Millennium Bridge beside Glasgow Science Centre in 2002 and the adjacent Bell’s Bridge in 1988.

All are restricted to walkers, wheelers and cyclists.