2026 Agenda

Delegates registered for Bridges Scotland have a special opportunity to take part in a one-hour tour of some of the River Clyde's bridges, hosted by an engineer from the Institution of Civil Engineers Scotland.

Visitors will meet beneath Kingston Bridge, on the northern bank of the river at the East side of the bridge (go to What3words.com and enter throw.asks.leap for the exact location), where the guide will also provide some detail on the bridges upstream, including Tradeston Bridge, and George V Bridge. The group will then walk downstream to Clyde Arc, Bell's Bridge, and Millennium Bridge, heading to the SEC Glasgow for the start of proceedings.

Spaces are limited, so please book as soon as possible here: Sign-up form

Please get in touch at conferences@hgluk.com if you have any accessibility requirements.

• Established in 2015 to provide a nationally recognised benchmark for bridge inspection competence, helping asset owners, consultants and contractors demonstrate suitably qualified, experienced personnel.
• In 2025, BICS underwent its most significant transformation since inception - a revised certification pathway including a new Associate Bridge Inspector grade, an online knowledge-based assessment, and a streamlined, more accessible evidence portfolio.
• This presentation will provide an update on the implementation of the revised scheme, key changes, lessons learned, and the latest certification statistics and uptake trends since the 2025 relaunch.

• How SRRB and University of Strathclyde research is advancing scour monitoring, from direct probes and sonars to low-cost, non-contact techniques.
• Combining water level and flow measurements with hydraulic modelling to better understand the complex conditions around bridge piers.
• Moving beyond CS 469 to smarter, network-scale prioritisation - helping bridge owners target inspection and intervention where it matters most.

• Scour remains one of the biggest risks to bridge assets, but manual, portfolio-level assessment is time-intensive. This session sets out a practical digital approach, using GIS and Python to streamline CS 469 screening and prioritisation.
• Real case studies from local authority clients, showing how AtkinsRéalis has automated Level 1 screening and built repeatable prioritisation tools to flag which structures need investigating first
• The engineering context and delivery benefits of digital workflows - faster, more consistent scour assessment at scale.

• Management of immediate scour risks and maintaining network resilience.
• Maintaining asset confidence through multiple flood events.
• Delivering repairs and reactive works within a restricted area and ecologically sensitive locations.

• IRMOS provides AI-powered portfolio management and real-time monitoring, so maintenance strategies can be created, compared and tracked against performance targets and budget constraints.
• This session shows how measured data, rather than estimated traffic loads, can make maintenance costs easier to plan and help time interventions more effectively.

• ALICS is a new visual inspection platform developed by the University of Strathclyde that uses scene illumination and AI-powered algorithms to definitively measure concrete cracks.
• This session explains how repeat deployment tracks crack growth objectively across successive inspections, giving asset owners consistent, auditable data to support principal and special inspections of concrete bridges.

• Temporary bridge requirements can arise for many reasons, from construction access and planned maintenance to emergency works and traffic diversions.
• This presentation explores the case for bridge rental and how modular systems can help deliver projects more quickly, safely and efficiently than more traditional solutions.
• Drawing on real-life case studies, the presentation will highlight the practical benefits of bridge rental and the lessons learned from its application on a wide range of projects.

• A post-25-year service Principal Inspection of Scalpay Bridge and its findings.
• Refurbishment criteria and analysis of the existing structure’s bearing loads.  
• The case for pendel bearing replacement over refurbishment, and the risks it addresses.
• Delivering the works while keeping the bridge open to traffic.
• Plans for future maintenance and re-coating.

• Due to concerns about the condition of a half joint on a bridge carrying the M8 motorway, complex strengthening works were required.
• Utilising BEAR Scotland’s supply chain, the detailed design, fabrication, and installation of strengthening steelwork was undertaken within very short timescales.

• The presentation will focus on the choice of a box slide construction methodology to construct a new dual carriageway underpass beneath a busy stretch of the M27 motorway in Hampshire.
• This will cover the design stages from optioneering to detailed design, construction challenges and complex installation methodology associated with this method.
• The presentation will also cover the decision to close the motorway for a 10 day period over Christmas 2025 to facilitate the installation, how this was communicated to the public, and the positive feedback received.

• What happens to a bridge when it is no longer needed, and could it be reused instead of scrapped?
• Re-Bridge is a free online platform that matches bridges due for removal with people who could give them a second life.
• A joint initiative by Expedition Engineering and Format Engineers, supported by the Net Zero Bridges Group.
• Hear how circular economy principles could apply to your next project, and how designers, owners, developers, demolition companies and councils can get involved.

• Since opening in 1971, the Erskine Bridge has been a vital crossing of the River Clyde and one of Scotland's most recognisable structures, carrying millions of vehicle movements each year.
• This session explores the challenges of maintaining a major cable-stayed box girder asset at this scale, covering the current programme of inspection, maintenance and renewal, and key lessons from managing a nationally important structure in a live operational environment.
• Looking ahead, it examines the major interventions planned over the next ten years - from large-scale renewal projects to resilience improvements - and the long-term asset management strategies needed to keep ageing infrastructure safe, reliable, and fit for the decades ahead.

Building on last year's well-received panel discussion on the industry's skills challenge, this session brings together voices from across the profession to explore what's genuinely working, what isn't, and where things need to go next. Topics include:

• Mentoring and knowledge transfer between experienced and early-career engineers.
• The transition from education into industry - graduate and apprenticeship pathways.
• The skills future engineers will need as digital technologies and climate resilience reshape the profession.
• The role professional institutions play in supporting engineers throughout their careers.

• An update on the 2026 revision to the Well Managed Highway Infrastructure Code of Practice, with a focus on Part C: Structures and a short overview of Part E: Tunnels, covering its relevance to authorities managing tunnel assets.
• Key changes affecting bridge and structures management, including implications for competence and asset management practice.

• Ultrabeam Hydrographic uses high-resolution 3D sonar to create measurable models of submerged bridge structures and riverbeds.
• This session shows how that evidence supports scour and foundation assessments, including an emergency deployment at Scoop Viaduct that helped engineers reopen the railway on the day of the survey.

• Background on Garmouth Viaduct – construction, existing data and drawings available, location and use over the years.
• River Spey changes over the years – movement of the River Spey through aerial imagery.
• Failure Mechanism – a review of the assumed mechanism of failure.
• Removal of the failed sections – overview of how the sections will be retrieved.

• Practical, scalable monitoring: The presentation will demonstrate how low-cost, non-contact radar systems can deliver reliable, real-time measurements of bridge vibrations and displacements, thus reducing the need for intrusive inspections, traffic disruption, and costly sensor installations.
• Better decisions for bridge owners: The presentation will show how radar-based data can support condition assessment, early damage detection, and prioritisation of maintenance, helping asset owners improve safety, resilience, and whole-life cost efficiency.