Rusty Bridge

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 30 Mar 2024

I'm sure this bird was posing! It stayed in place even as a cyclist whizzed close by, and only flew away after I put my phone back in my pocket. Rusty Bridge seems to be the most widely-used nickname for what is officially called Sighthill Bridge, as was its predecessor by all accounts. Though there are some hyped-up grumblings online about the stupidity of making a new bridge look old, the fact is that it would have been impossible to replace the narrow grubby grey original with anything worse. The bridge is part of a massive ongoing redevelopment of the Sighthill area of Glasgow which is on the North (left) side of the motorway. The new bridge is around 250 foot long, weighs in at around a thousand tonnes and, amazingly, was transported here along the motorway in one piece by something called an SPMT (Self Propelled Modular Trailer). That would have been worth paying money to see, and there are plenty of pictures to be found of them hauling huge things around. The Westbound lanes of the M8 here must crawl along in second or third gear for over twelve hours a day, whether or not roadworks are in place.

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