Debating the future of the Forth bridge

A debate is now underway regarding the fate of the existing Forth Road Bridge in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. A new Forth Replacement Bridge is being planned at a cost of some €2.64 billion and once this opens, it will carry heavy vehicles, which will not be allowed over the current bridge. Excessive loading and corrosion have taken their toll on the current bridge, although measures to halt the cable corrosion in this suspension bridge have now been taken.
May 14, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A debate is now underway regarding the fate of the existing Forth Road Bridge in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

A new Forth Replacement Bridge is being planned at a cost of some €2.64 billion and once this opens, it will carry heavy vehicles, which will not be allowed over the current bridge. Excessive loading and corrosion have taken their toll on the current bridge, although measures to halt the cable corrosion in this suspension bridge have now
been taken.

When the new link opens, there are proposals to turn the existing bridge into a pedestrian and cycleway only, although there are questions over the high maintenance costs for such use.

Overall though, the fate of the Forth Road Bridge provides a case in point for all older bridges around the world. The existing bridge was designed in the 1950s and built to high engineering standards, opening to traffic in 1964. However the bridge now has to cope with considerably higher volumes of traffic than it was designed for. In addition, the maximum GVW of trucks using the bridge has more than doubled since the link was opened.
Road Structures

Related Content

  • Times they are a changing
    July 23, 2012
    Construction in China still appears to be on course for growth even with the gloomy economic outlook, as it enjoys "a strong budgets position." Patrick Smith reports One thing is certain in the current global economic climate: nothing is certain. And while China has not been unaffected by the economic events of recent months it has, according to Robert Zoellinck, president of the World Bank, a very strong current account and budgetary position. For some years, the nation has enjoyed double digit growth (the
    Read More
  • ADT market developments
    May 25, 2016
    The market for ADTs has developed considerably in the last 20 years while the number of manufacturers active in this segment has also grown Volvo CE was a pioneer of the ADT; the first firm to mass manufacture an articulating, tipper truck with all-wheel-drive in the 1960s, although it is not correct to say that the firm actually invented the ADT as some may claim. Performance has increased considerably in the ADT sector in recent years, with many trucks now featuring low maintenance, oil-immersed d
    Read More
  • Italy's strategic tunnel link
    August 21, 2012
    The world's largest tunnelling machine is completing Italy's important road connection between Bologna and Florence - Adrian Greeman reports For just under a decade a huge programme of highway construction has been underway in the mountainous region between Bologna and Florence, realigning a section of the A1 highway nearly 70km long. The new section, through major tunnels and across high viaducts, will greatly increase capacity on Italy's most important highway.
    Read More
  • Giving credence for Clearwater revival
    October 29, 2018
    The Minnesota Highway 24 Bridge spanning the Mississippi River at Clearwater is not a major structure. However, it does play a key role as the 376.4m-long bridge links US Highway 10 and Interstate 94. These routes run parallel on opposite sides of the Mississippi River and connect St Cloud to Minneapolis. There was a need to replace the old bridge, built in the 1950s, as it has been designated functionally obsolete, while it featured a restricted maximum load of 36.3tonnes. The price tag to demolish and
    Read More

Highlighted Content