Kessock Bridge is a Grade B listed building in the local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 26 September 2019. Bridge.

Kessock Bridge

WRENN ID
hushed-crypt-pearl
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Constituency
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP: Jamie Stone (LD)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
26 September 2019
Type
Bridge
OS grid reference
NH 664 476
Coordinates
57.49943, -4.22997
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Kessock Bridge, also known as Drochaid Ceasaig, was built between 1976 and 1982. It is a cable-stayed dual carriageway road bridge that carries the A9 over the Beauly Firth, connecting Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty.

The bridge was designed and constructed for the Scottish Development Department by Dr. Hellmut Homberg for the super-structure, with Trafalgar House Engineering Services Ltd handling the sub-structure. Ove Arup & Partners and Crouch & Hogg served as joint engineering consultants, while the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company and Redpath Dorman Long Ltd were the joint contractors.

Kessock Bridge measures a total length of 1,056 metres, featuring a main navigation span of 240 metres. There are seven smaller spans to the south and five to the north, each ranging from 60 to 80 metres in length. The deck is made of steel and is supported by four steel towers, with groups of eight steel cables arranged in a twin 'harp' shape configuration. The supporting piers are constructed of concrete. To safeguard against seismic and geological movement from the Great Glen Fault, the bridge includes buffers at the north abutment near the fault line, each weighing approximately 2.5 tons.

Local climate

Kessock Bridge sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 990 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 80% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 60% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 54 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 94% of listed buildings. Of these, 36 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. East Pier, North Kessock Grade C 891 m
  2. Kessock Hotel, Main Street, North Kessock Grade C 1.1 km
  3. Croft Downie, North Kessock Grade C 1.2 km
  4. Sheer-Legs, Thornbush Quay, Inverness Grade B 1.2 km
  5. Clock Tower, Cromwell Road, Inverness Grade B 1.3 km
  6. 55 and 57 Grant Street, Inverness Grade C 1.7 km
  7. 51 and 53 Grant Street, Inverness Grade C 1.7 km
  8. 1 Anderson Street, Inverness Grade B 1.7 km
  9. 2 Grant Street, Inverness Grade B 1.7 km
  10. Argyle Bar, 1 Grant Street, Inverness Grade C 1.7 km