Naver Bridge, located in the Highlands of Scotland near Bettyhill, carries the A836 across the River Naver, and is set against the sculpted landscapes of the North Coastline.  The A836 has strategic importance to the area and forms part of the picturesque North Coast 500 Route.  The new crossing improves driver safety by removing a traffic bottleneck, and flood risk from the River Naver.

Fairhurst were engaged by The Highland Council to provide engineering services for the following elements;

  • Improvements to the eastern approach road including reengineering of the existing rock cut.
  • Construction of a new three span river crossing,
  • Realignment of the western approach and tie in to the existing A836

© Wills Bros

The geology around the Coastline of the Scottish Highlands is well known for its complex geological structure moulded by tectonics, sculpted by ice and continually reshaped by coastal forces.  This presented some challenging ground conditions, particularly with the rock slope cutting to accommodate the realigned A836 and pile design for the bridge abutment foundations.

In addition to the ground conditions, other challenges including land availability, steeply dipping topography, ecological constraints, working near water and the need to keep the A836 open during the works, presented a number of challenges during the design.  However, Fairhurst worked collaboratively with The Highland Council and specialist ecologist to develop a design that was sympathetic to its location and recognised the strategic importance of the route.

It was only as construction progressed that we could fully understand the geology within the rock cut and we provided regular on-site supervision to map the exposed rock face as the works progressed. This led to design refinements that gave the appearance of a more natural slope, due to the undulating slope gradients.

Construction works reached a major milestone towards the end of 2025, when rock cut slope was completed and the piled abutments and piers emerged from the water, ready to support the bridge deck.

Works with the bridge superstructure and approach roads are still on-going.  Fairhurst continues to provide engineering services at Naver Bridge and look forward to seeing the completion of the works later this year.

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