Coatbridge company to help rebuild war-torn bridges in Ukraine
Cairnhill Structures will play an 'integral' role in the process of rebuilding Ukraine
A steel fabricator, based in North Lanarkshire, will help rebuild bridges which have been damaged in Russian bombing during the war in Ukraine.
Cairnhill Structures in Coatbridge is set to play an "integral" role during the restoration of two main crossings near the capital.
The Makarov and Vishgorod Bridges, near Kyiv, are being brought back to life and Cairnhill will be assisting in the design and manufacture of the bridge deck sections.
The work will involve around 400 tons of steelwork being made in their Coatbridge manufacturing facility for export.
Managing director, Steven Hendry, told Clyde 1 News: "Roughly a year ago, one of our sales team was approached by the UK Government to ask if we'd be interested in working on a couple of schemes in Ukraine.
"We're going to work through the Christmas period to get a delivery ready for early next year.
"The bridges will be fully manufactured in Coatbridge, where we employ over 200 people.
"At the moment they have temporary barge bridges, and it's affecting the whole local area.
"What makes it more special for us, is that we have a few Ukrainian people working for us.
"For different reasons, they couldn't be there and fight the Russian invasion, so they're now feeling good that they can get involved and help their country by putting something back."
'They were being bombed'
Steven added: "For us, it's a great project to be involved in. We understand the difficulties that Ukrainian people face and we see the regular news articles where people are being displaced.
"We went on a site call last week and the Ukrainian team was late - they apologised and explained the reason they were late was because they were being bombed.
"They had to go to an air-raid shelter.
"Us doing a small bit of manufacturing and delivering feels insignificant compared to what they're doing, but it feels great to see our Ukrainian staff be involved in this.
"To see that community get back on their feet again and remove some of that headache around travelling will be so rewarding for us."
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which started in 2014.
The invasion, the largest conflict in Europe since World War II, has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of civilian casualties.
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