Major works repairing the Ruthven Bridge, near Tomintoul are almost complete. Whilst the bridge itself is not unusual, to replace the stone arch and support the  bridge whilst doing so is very much so. The £120,000 project required a virtual forest of complicated scaffolding to be erected to fully support the 160 tonne fragile structure whilst work was carried out. Normally it would be a matter of demolishing the bridge and constructing a new structure from scratch.

It is the first time such a method has been used in Moray. By using this method Moray Council has succeeded in retaining the historic stone masonry bridge, and at a much lower cost than constructing a new bridge.

Built in the early 19th Century, the bridge carries one of the two roads running from Tomintoul to Glenlivet.

Ruthven Bridge is a masonry arch spanning 14m, and carries the Avonside road over the Water of Conglass, a tributary of the Avon.

Routine inspections on bridges by Moray Council highlighted a problem with the voussoirs on Ruthven bridge.

Voussoirs are the wedge-shaped blocks forming the curved parts of an arch. The majority of the voussoirs have been damaged beyond repair by frost action over the years. Rainwater had penetrated the bridge and soaked through to the voussoirs. This meant that the bridge was becoming structurally weak and would have to be closed.

The solution was to support the bridge whilst part of the arch was replaced. In 2006 the road was closed whilst the bridge deck was waterproofed. This ensured that the new voussoirs will not suffer the same damage. The current project started on site in May. Whilst this project is not unique, it has not been carried out in Moray previously.

There were not many local contractors with all the trades to carry out this type of project. Three contractors were eventually employed to carry out various stages of the construction. These contractors G Laing Stonecraft, Speyside Scaffolding and AJ Engineering were involved from an early stage in the planning. In order to remove these stones from the bridge, a scaffold had to be constructed to support the arch, using a similar method to that used in the original construction of the bridge. A scaffold was constructed on temporary foundations in the river.

To allow construction in the river, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Speyside Fisheries and the landowners were consulted as to the best method to reduce the risk of potential pollution.

The stones were cut to shape by Moray Stone Cutters before being transported to site. Each new stone has to be individually "dressed" on site, to ensure that it fits into the space of the previous stone.