Skip to main content

Scotland’s Queensferry Crossing to open in summer 2017?

If good weather conditions continue then Scotland’s new Queensferry Crossing should open to traffic between July and August of this year. The bridge had originally been intended to be ready by December 2016 but construction work was delayed due to tough weather conditions.
May 31, 2017 Read time: 1 min
The new Queensferry Crossing, seen here at an earlier stage of construction, was originally intended to open to traffic in late 2016 but tough weather conditions delayed the opening
If good weather conditions continue then Scotland’s new Queensferry Crossing should open to traffic between July and August of this year. The bridge had originally been intended to be ready by December 2016 but construction work was delayed due to tough weather conditions. However in recent months the weather has been less challenging and has allowed work to continue.


The £1.35 billion project to replace the Forth Road Bridge has been required due to heavy wear and tear the existing structure has suffered from carrying significantly more and heavier traffic than it was designed for. There have also been concerns over corrosion in the main cables of the existing suspension bridge, although further corrosion was halted by the introduction of a novel de-humidification process.

Opening the new Queensferry Crossing will allow the existing Forth Road Bridge to be used as a public transport corridor for buses and taxis. There are also possible plans for the existing bridge to carry trams in the future.

Related Content

  • Managing urban motorway complexity in Sydney
    October 4, 2012
    Sydney’s Hills M2 motorway is being widened while still carrying traffic and meeting tough environmental criteria More than 100,000 vehicles and over 27,000 bus commuters use the Hills M2 motorway on a typical workday, making it one of Sydney’s busiest motorway corridors. Owned and managed by Hills Motorway Ltd (HML) and a key part of the city’s orbital motorway network, the road stretches over 21km, providing a seamless link between the Lane Cove Tunnel and Westlink M7. The Hills M2 Upgrade is one of many
  • Sunderland’s New Wear Crossing takes shape
    February 16, 2017
    The New Wear Crossing will be the first bridge to be built over the River Wear in Sunderland, UK, for more than 40 years Raising the bridge’s 100m-tall pylon promised to be a stunning visual sight, but also a tricky operation dictated by extremely variable local weather. World Highways went to press just before the operation, but not before the pylon had arrived by barge on January 7. It had completed a two-day crossing of the often unpredictable North Sea from the Belgian port of Ghent where it was f
  • Sunderland’s Northern Spire bridge opens
    August 28, 2018
    Sunderland’s Northern Spire bridge with its 105m-high central A-frame pylon opens to traffic today after a four-month delay because of poor weather. The bridge opened for pedestrians and cyclists yesterday after three Sunderland-built Nissan vehicles first crossed the bridge during a ceremony to mark completion of the project. Work began in May 2015 and the bridge has been built within its allocated €129 million budget. However, poor weather conditions pushed back the opening of the bridge from this past
  • Sunderland’s Northern Spire bridge opens
    August 28, 2018
    Sunderland’s Northern Spire bridge with its 105m-high central A-frame pylon opens to traffic today after a four-month delay because of poor weather. The bridge opened for pedestrians and cyclists yesterday after three Sunderland-built Nissan vehicles first crossed the bridge during a ceremony to mark completion of the project. Work began in May 2015 and the bridge has been built within its allocated €129 million budget. However, poor weather conditions pushed back the opening of the bridge from this past