GREENOCK-based engineering specialists Dales Marine have won a key contract to produce a bespoke linkspan bridge for a floating pier.

The busy company — which was awarded multi-million-pound CalMac ferries refit work in January — will make the bridge for use in transporting large volumes of logs by sea instead of road.

Innovative port handling company JST Floating Piers Ltd have commissioned Dales to carry out the work, to the delight of management at the James Watt Dock-based company.

Andrew Malcolm of Dales said: "This is a fantastic order for the group.

"The new bridge is to be built in-house at both our Greenock and Aberdeen facilities and it will showcase the company's outstanding fabrication skills."

The bridge will form part of a floating pier which will be transported by sea to its final location in north-west Scotland.

The floating pier will result in a 'modal shift' of large volumes of logs from road to a sea-based transport system.

It will allow JST to efficiently transport harvested timber from the shoreline out onto the floating pier before final loading into coastal ships.

A firm called T12 Consultancy will provide the engineering design services for the new linkspan bridge.

Dales director Michael Milne said: "It is a landmark project for our business and one in which we are proud to be involved.

"It's one which I know the team is looking forward to starting shortly."