Work begins to remove tangled remains of River Annan bridges

Work got under way this week to remove the tangled remains of the first of two iconic bridges from the River Annan.

Flash floods at the end of October saw the force of the water in the river sweep away 125 years of history by destroying Annan’s Jubilee and Cuthbertson Bridges in a matter of seconds.

Since then, Dumfries and Galloway Council has been seeking permission from nearby landowners to carry out the removal of the tangled wreckage from the water.

The work will cost £75,000 and the authority is also going to fund a £50,000 study into replacing them.

The creation of a temporary footbridge is being discussed as a way to provide a river crossing in the meantime.

First to be dragged from the River Annan and cut up was the Cuthbertson Bridge with workers on site from Tuesday. All going well, the Jubilee Bridge will be lifted out from Monday.

Parts of the bridges including the memorial plaque from the Cuthberston Bridge – a registered war memorial – will be retained and there are plans to make benches from other pieces.

A community group set up by local residents to get new bridges on the river in the future is to seek public opinion for what will happen to the rest.

Councillor Richard Brodie, chairman of the Annan the History Town Group, has raised the possibility of turning the tangled wreckage into a public work of art as a way of preserving some of the town’s heritage.

The Cuthbertson Bridge, which was completed in 1957, was erected in memory of Surgeon Lieutenant William Cuthbertson who died in the Second World War. The Jubilee Bridge near Brydekirk was erected in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 60th year on the throne.