Houston Interchange Refurbishment

The Houston Interchange Bridge carries the A899 dual carriageway between Deerpark Roundabout and Cousland Interchange over Houston Road close to Livingston town centre.  It comprises two bridges carrying the north and south bound traffic.

The condition of the concrete deck, piers and abutments has been deteriorating over a number of years. In particular the bottom surface of the concrete deck on both bridges is beginning to de-bond from the surrounding deck in several areas with the possibility of this de-bonded concrete falling on to Houston Road below. The paint system over the piers and abutments is also beginning to fail. In addition, the road joints at each end of the bridge are beginning to break up. Vital repairs are therefore required on the two bridges in order to ensure the long-term durability of this essential structure.

The works will involve reinstatement of all defective concrete, maintenance painting of the steelwork and replacement of the road joints. The opportunity will also be taken to re-surface the cross-over points north and south of the bridge and to clean the road gullies in the vicinity of the bridge. The main contractor for the repairs is VolkerLaser Ltd, an experienced national contractor who has carried out a number of similar schemes on motorway bridges across the country.  

The refurbishment works are due to start on 30 March 2026 for a period of twelve weeks.  During this time the bridge will remain open for vehicles, however, a contra-flow will be in operation with all traffic diverted alternately onto the northbound and southbound sides of the bridge. This is necessary to allow concrete repairs to the two bridge decks to be carried out in two phases. Live traffic cannot cross the bridges when repairs are being carried beneath. During each phase traffic will be diverted onto one bridge while concrete repairs underneath is being carried out on the other bridge.  This method of working is required to maintain the safety of the workforce and the public and will allow works to progress as quickly as possible. 

It will also be necessary to close the north and southbound on-slip roads from Houston Road for the duration of the works.  Local diversions will be in place to divert traffic via Cousland Interchange.  A 30-mph speed limit will also be placed on the A899 dual carriageway to allow the contra-flow to operate safely.  Traffic management in the form of temporary traffic signals and lane closures will be required on Houston Road beneath the bridge in order to safely carry out overhead works.

The bridge was last refurbished in 2013. There have been other works on the dual carriageway in recent years, including the Almond Valley Bridge last year which had contraflows in place. We have five major bridges carrying the A899 dual carriageway, along with three pedestrian overbridges and one underpass so it is likely that some form of maintenance is going to be required on at least one of these bridges every few years.

It is acknowledged that there will be some disruption to road users during these works.  However, the bridge will remain open at all times and every effort will be made to progress the refurbishment as quickly as possible.