Forth Replacement Crossing feature on STV news

Towards the end of December there was a feature on STV news showing construction having started on the new Forth Crossing. You can watch the clip online and includes comments from infrastructure minister Alex Neil on work awarded to sub contractors as an early Christmas present for Scottish industry. This includes £20million already awarded with many more contracts still being advertised.

The other notable item from December (and also now in January) was the closure of the current Forth Crossing to all traffic due to high winds. While the bridge is occasionally closed to high-sided vehicles, it is quite unusual to be shut completely as it was on the 8th of December 2011. Since then, the bridge was also shut on the 3rd of January this year (2012) to all vehicles as yet another storm raged across central Scotland. According to the official Forth Bridge website, the bridge only shuts when gusts exceed 80mph. It is unclear as to what wind speeds the new bridge will remain open.

Alex Neil used the same interview to highlight the wind proofing that will be present on the new bridge – a giant wind shield – to prevent closure in the future on the new bridge.

Finally, I’m pretty sure this is just a bit of scare mongering/rumour, but the Dunfermline press ran an article a few days ago hinting that there could be a return to bridge tolls in an effort to meet carbon emission standards. Needless to say, the SNP government rebutted this suggestion.