A #14m repair contract, which will involve jacking up Glasgow's troubled Kingston Bridge clear of its existing supports and moving it 75mm southwards, was confirmed yesterday by Strathclyde Regional Council's roads department.

The Edinburgh-based Balfour Beatty group has won the contract to rectify major defects on the bridge, which carries an estimated 155,000 vehicles a day.

The defects - including a one-foot dip in the bridge deck, cracks underneath the bridge which signalled a potential weakness in the centre span, and cracks on quay walls on the north bank of the river - have caused the deck of the bridge to move northwards.

The region says the latest contract will involve the closure of the bridge on four weekends during a seven-month period as well as 10 six-hour closures.

It is hoped the operation could begin by July next year.

Strathclyde region is still pursuing the original designers of the bridge, which cost #11m to build and was opened in 1970, through the Court of Session, claiming that it suffers from a design fault.

Repair work to date has cost #11.6m. On completion of the latest contract, it is estimated that a further #7m will have to be spent to complete repairs.