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

  • Innovations are pushing boundaries in the concrete road paving sector
    February 18, 2013
    The concrete road paving market continues to develop - Mike Woof reports Concrete road paving technology continues to evolve, with new equipment and techniques coming to market. Although concrete road construction has been used for many years, problems with early generation technologies affected this market segment. The first concrete roads were constructed in sections, which led to problems at joints but these were addressed many years ago with the advent of slipform paving. Concrete roads constructed in t
    Read More
  • Kenya’s bridge maintenance woes persist
    May 10, 2018
    Many of Kenya’s bridges are in poor condition writes Shem Oirere. The lack of programmed maintenance of bridges in Kenya continues to undermine the structural integrity of the infrastructure and compromising their general usage safety despite the existence of approved measures to protect them from falling into a state of disrepair. Experts think that both the absence of a maintenance component in bridge construction contracts, especially for those built one or two decades ago, and a weak maintenance supervi
    Read More
  • Asphalt milling optimised by 3D controls
    February 20, 2012
    3D machine controls can optimise milling efficiency, Mike Woof reports. More efficient milling and recycling operations can be carried out by using the latest 3D control systems on the market. At the last Trimble Dimensions event in Las Vegas, the advantages of 3D controls for milling operations proved a key topic. The use of 3D control systems can offer huge advantages in milling operations. This technology helps increase productivity as the milling machine will only remove what is required, which also hel
    Read More
  • Helsinki's tunnel project
    April 11, 2012
    A novel approach to utilities installation will lengthen the life of Helsinki's streets, reports Mike Woof A major utilities project in Finnish capital Helsinki will offer huge benefits for the city's streets and traffic flow rates in years to come. A new tunnel system is being excavated under Helsinki for the power company Helsingin Energia, although this will be co-owned by the city. Called the Common Utility Tunnel (Meilahti-Pasilak-Käpylä LU2), the excavations form an extensive network spreading out un
    Read More

Highlighted Content