The Diamond Bridge, known during planning and construction as the Third Don Crossing, is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

across the River Don in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland, which opened in 2016. It is the third crossing of the river open to all traffic between the suburbs of

Bridge of Don Bridge of Don is a suburb in the north of Aberdeen, Scotland. In , the Bridge of Don electoral ward was estimated to have a population of 19,545. Bridge of Don is split into four areas for statistical purposes by Aberdeen City Council and Poli ...

and Aberdeen City, after the

and Persley Bridge.

History

Proposals for a third Don crossing have been made since the 1970s. The city council agreed to begin the project in 2003, and by 2004 decided on a preferred route. Construction began in November 2014 and the completed bridge was opened in June 2016. A worker Ian Walker was killed by an excavator during construction of the Don Crossing on 13 January 2016, an incident that led to

Balfour Beatty Balfour Beatty plc () is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the company is active ac ...

being fined £600,000.

Route

A new road connects Fairview Street in Danestone to the bridge, which then crosses to Gordon's Mills Road in

Tillydrone Tillydrone is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland. Lying north of the city centre and slightly north-west of Old Aberdeen, it is roughly bounded by the River Don, Aberdeenshire, River Don, St Machar Drive, and the main Aberdeen-Inverness Line, Aberdee ...

. The crossing allows traffic from northern suburbs to reach the city centre without having to join the confluence of two of Aberdeen's busiest roads, the A92 and A96, at the Haudagain roundabout. Along with the new crossing, a streamlined "

Berryden Berryden is an area of Aberdeen quite near to the city centre. Berryden Retail Park is the main shopping destination in the north side of Aberdeen, with large chain store, smaller shops and a children's play centre. The retail park was purchase ...

Corridor" supports the extra traffic to the city centre.

References

{{reflist Road bridges in Scotland Bridges in Aberdeen Bridges completed in 2016 2016 establishments in Scotland