Drochaid a' Chaolais Chumhaing, An Caolas Cumhang - Kylesku Bridge, Kylesku is a Grade A listed building in the local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 23 January 2019. Bridge.
Drochaid a' Chaolais Chumhaing, An Caolas Cumhang - Kylesku Bridge, Kylesku
- WRENN ID
- keen-corridor-burdock
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Constituency
- Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP: Jamie Stone (LD)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 23 January 2019
- Type
- Bridge
- OS grid reference
- NC 226 338
- Coordinates
- 58.25716, -5.02365
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
Drochaid a' Chaolais Chumhaing, also known as Kylesku Bridge, is a curved concrete box-girder bridge located in Kylesku, Sutherland, in the northwest of Scotland. It was constructed between 1981 and 1984, designed by Ove Arup and Partners for the Highland Regional Council, at a cost of £5.3 million. The main contractors were Morrison Construction Ltd. in collaboration with Lehane, MacKenzie and Shand. This bridge is part of the North Coast 500 route, connecting Ullapool and Scourie, and carries the A894 non-trunk road over the deep sea inlet of An Caolas Cumhang, where Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin, Loch Glencoul, and Loch Gleann Dubh converge.
The bridge has a total length of 276 meters, featuring a central span of 132 meters, flanked by two smaller spans of 72 meters each. It has a consistent navigable clearance of 24 meters along its length due to its portal frame design. The continuous curved deck is made of hollow box girder pre-stressed concrete, which includes both a carriageway and a footway. The deck is supported by two pairs of V-shaped concrete piers, which are positioned on either side of the channel. These piers are splayed outwards by 16 meters at the base and incline upwards to meet the deck. The carriageway and footway are equipped with aluminium parapets that feature three horizontal rails, and the deck is inclined to match the curvature of the bridge.
Local climate
Drochaid a' Chaolais Chumhaing, An Caolas Cumhang - Kylesku Bridge, Kylesku sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,520 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 98% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 95% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 41 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 79% of listed buildings. Of these, 31 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.
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