The car ferry to Eriskay from South
Uist makes its final trip across the Sound of Eriskay on Thursday (July 12)
as the new causeway opens to regular traffic for the first time.
The 1.6 kilometre causeway from South Uist to Eriskay is part of the £9.4m Eriskay and Sound of Barra integrated transport project which has been under way since May last year.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has put
£2 million into the project with £4.1 million coming from the
Scottish Executive's transportation challenge fund and the rest from European
Objective 1 (£2.8 million) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (£0.5
million).
Around 12.30 on Thursday the ferry which has been in service for more than 20 years will make a final journey to Eriskay and a return trip back. There will then be a cavalcade of cars across the new roadway. The event, to be attended by members of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Transportation Committee, Western Isles MP Calum Macdonald and Western Isles MSP Alasdair Morrison, will be followed by a buffet in the community centre.
Council Convener Alex Macdonald said: "This will be a great day for the Western Isles . The Comhairle's plan for an integrated spinal route through the Islands has moved a major step forward and we can all take pride in that achievement.
"I
would like to pay tribute to the often-difficult work of the ferrymen
over the years as they have confronted very challenging tidal and weather
conditions."
Comhairle nan Eilean Transportation Committee chairman, Mr Norman A. Macdonald, said: "Transport links in the Western Isles have undergone a transformation in recent years. There is still much work to do but already we have seen the difference that fixed links and improved transport links make to the prosperity of our communities.
"We appreciate the problems which the Islanders on Eriskay have faced in their day-to-day lives because tidal conditions regularly prevented us from providing the sort of ferry service which other Islands took for granted. I would like to thank them for their forbearance and also praise the dedication of the ferry staff who kept the service going over many years in difficult circumstances."
Work has been progressing on the causeway and more than a kilometre of approach roads from both sides of the Sound of Eriskay since May 2000, with around 700,000 tonnes of rock excavated from Eriskay and from a quarry at Glendale in South Uist. A new ferry terminal on Eriskay has also been constructed.
Background;
Included in the project total
cost £9,400,000 are ferry
terminals on Eriskay and Barra for a vehicle ferry, the last link in
north/south communications between the Western Isles.
The causeway carries a two-track road, a new water main and mains electricity
replacing the existing underwater cable.
The causeway to Eriskay was the largest civil engineering project of its type under way in the United Kingdom.
The opening of the Eriskay Causeway will mark another major step in the process of linking up the Western Isles which began 40 years ago.
The first link to be completed
was the 82-span South Ford bridge from Benbecula to South Uist, completed
in 1942.
This was followed by the pioneering bridge to Great Bernera from Lewis opened in 1953. This was the first prestressed concrete girder road bridge in the UK.
Nex t came the five-mile North Ford causeway from Benbecula to North Uist, opened in 1960. This remains the longest causeway in the Western Isles.
In 1962 the Baleshare Causeway was opened, linking that island to North Uist.
In 1983 a new two-lane causeway was built to replace the South Ford bridge.
In 1990, a causeway was opened
linking Vatersay to Barra.
In 1996 the Sound of Harris car ferry service began, linking Harris directly with North Uist.
In late 1997, the Scalpay Bridge came into use.
December 1998 saw the first crossing by car of the Berneray Causeway.
This release has been prepared by Intermedia Services (01851 705743) on behalf of the Eriskay Causeway Information Service of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
For further information please contact John Clark on 01851 709533.
