A six-month project on a 140-year-old Glasgow bridge has begun.

The railway bridge over Salkeld Street near Glasgow Central is being improved as part of a wider £1.5m repair programme on some of the city's bridges lasting until March 2025.

Spanning Salkeld Street and the West Coast Main Line, work on the structure includes 'rivet busting' to remove and replace the rivets that hold the steel in place, as well as steelwork repairs and painting.

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Engineers will also complete 'ballast retention' work, which will see measures put in place to stop ballast - the stone which holds the rails in place - escaping and falling from.

Network Rail and principal contractor Story have a site compound set up at a railway depot at Salkeld Street.

Christina Thomson, the scheme's project manager at Network Rail, said: “The essential maintenance and renewals work at Salkeld Street bridge helps Network Rail continue to run a safe and reliable railway throughout Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

“This vital work will not only improve the look of the 140-year-old bridge, it will also extend its lifespan for up to two decades.

“We appreciate the impact our activity will have on those living closest to the bridge and while we will do all we can to minimise this, we are limited in terms of what measures can be put in place to mitigate against some the nosier elements generated by the heavier engineering, such as the rivet busting activity.

“We are grateful to the community for their patience while we complete this significant improvement work.”

READ MORE: Bridge will close for over a month for Network Rail project

While work is underway, scaffolding will be in place to allow engineers to work safely. 

Work has started at the west side of the bridge and will continue until later this month, with a single-lane closure in place on the northbound road underneath the bridge.

Work will then switch to the east side until later in November, with a southbound single-lane closure in place.

Just before the work is completed, a similar programme of renewal works will begin on the railway bridge at Eglinton Street with more details of that to be revealed later.