News and Views from Scotland
Queensferry Crossing Comes Together
Artist's Impression of Queensferry Crossing
The final section of the Queensferry Crossing has finally been slotted into place.The 1.7 mile bridge, which is budgeted to cost £1.3 billion, is scheduled to be opened in May this year (original target was December 2016 but that date was been put back due to weather delays (25 days lost due to high winds during April last year). 149 segments of bridge deck, each of which is 12 metres (39 ft) long and 40 metres (130 ft) wide, were constructed in China and Spain, then delivered by sea in October 2013.
The structure will be the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world. It is being built alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge and will carry the main M90 motorway across the Firth of Forth between Lothian, at South Queensferry, and Fife, at North Queensferry. Wind shielding is being built into the design, to enable use of the bridge in high winds, which regularly led to restrictions on the existing bridge. The decision to proceed with a replacement bridge was taken at the end of 2007 and the existing road bridge is to be retained as a public transport link - increasing volumes of traffic on the existing bridge cause delays at peak times. Several new and upgraded roads will connect the bridge into the existing road network. Construction began in September 2011.
Pictures via Forth Bridge Forum.
Please give me whatever feedback comes to mind via david@rampantscotland.com.
David
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