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

  • Winter maintenance challenge
    February 29, 2012
    Many countries had their most severe winter for years, but it could have been much worse without the right equipment and technology as Patrick Smith reports. As many countries faced up to the 2010-2011 winter, hard-pressed maintenance teams did their best to keep things moving on the roads. With some of the lowest temperatures and heaviest snowfalls on record, the UK, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, France, Scandinavia, Germany, and Belgium were among those affected. Russia, eastern Europe and the USA did
  • Mallatite and TRT Lighting brightens up Scotland’s Erskine Bridge
    December 15, 2017
    Mallatite has supplied aluminium lighting columns and LED road lanterns as part of the Erskine Bridge Lighting and Electrical Refurbishment Project for Transport Scotland. The project is set to enhance night-time driving visibility and reduce energy consumption by up to 80% through the use of dimming. The A898 Erskine Bridge is a 15-span cable-stayed box girder bridge in west central Scotland that opened to traffic in 1971. The longest span is 305m. Around 42,000 vehicles use it daily to cross the River
  • Almost gone: Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge deconstructed
    August 14, 2015
    Three years ago a welder’s cut halved Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge. David Arminas reports from the banks of the Fraser River. By the time this issue of World Highways reaches you, one of Canada’s iconic steel arch bridges will be a shadow of its former self. It’s been a three-year demolition job since the first cut across the deck of the old Port Mann Bridge just outside the city of Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. A new 10-lane 2.2km Port Mann Bridge opened in 2012 (see box). It runs parallel to the o
  • Bridge drainage solution prevents water damage
    February 10, 2012
    Pipeline & Drainage Systems (PDS), is pointing to its EnviroDeck drainage product saying that unless properly drained, water can cause severe damage to bridges, particularly on deck surfaces where it may become trapped.