February 2 2021

LDN Architects will conduct fabric repairs and upgrading works to the B-listed Back Den Bridge at Kildrummy Castle, Aberdeenshire, to repair damage caused by a 2009 renovation.

Working alongside Elliott & Company structural engineers the applicants will repair collapsed masonry using a combination of salvaged and new ashlar sandstone and replace lime pointing and mortar.

As part of the works, drainage channels will also be unblocked to prevent the masonry walls from becoming waterlogged in future.

Elsewhere the carriage deck will be resurfaced to reopen blocked drainage chutes and replace and introduce a waterproof membrane sealed to the parapet walls as well as introducing two new outlets to prevent water from pooling.

In a statement, LDN wrote:"Blocked outlets and defective waterproofing, bitmac junctions with the bridge stone parapets, is the likely cause of water ingress to the fill behind the stone façade. Saturation of the fill has resulted in the most recent collapse of stonework with further evidence of bulging stonework."

Permanent access will also be created to an inner concrete void structure to permit ongoing maintenance.

Dating from 1900 the picturesque crossing was first designed by Alexander Marshall MacKenzie to serve as the approach road to landscaped gardens.

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