FORTH BRIDGES NEWS

The Forth Bridges occasionally find themselves in the news. Recently, this culminated on June 18 2004 when FETA presented the results of a feasibility study which focussed on the case for a second, possibly multi-modal, Forth Road Bridge. The proposed structure will be 2.2km long (the existing bridge is 2.5km) and would cross between Linn Mill on the north shore and the Cult Ness headland on the south . The cables will stretch between reinforced concrete towers 185m high (those on the existing bridge are 156m) and support a central span of 1375m; making it the world's sixth longest span (just 2m shorter than Tsing Ma Bridge).

It is estimated the bridge will cost £300M, and the connecting road network a further £200M. If the bridge is strengthened to also carry trams, the costs are expected to rise to £360M - £400M depending on how the trams are carried. To also carry trains, it has been estimeted by the media that costs would rise to £580M plus £500M for the connecting infrastructure.

This pages serves to collate news stories about the second road bridge and other articles related to the bridges in general. It should be not that the trust neither support nor objects to the construction of second road bridge.

30.01.08		End date for road bridges' tolls Tolls on the Forth and Tay road bridges will be scrapped in less than two weeks, it has been confirmed. [more]
17.01.08		Bridge wires snap 'one a month' More than one wire a month is snapping on the Forth Road Bridge, monitoring equipment has revealed. [more]
17.01.08		MSPs vote to scrap bridge tolls MSPs have backed a bill to remove tolls on the Forth Road Bridge and the Tay Bridge.  [more]
19.12.07		New bridge to be built over Forth A new bridge is to be built across the Firth of Forth, west of the existing suspension road crossing.
08.10.08		Rail bridge builder on £20 notes A University of Glasgow graduate who helped build the Forth Rail Bridge appears on new £20 notes.
03.10.08		Fears over second Forth crossing Residents tell the Scottish Government that a second crossing over the Forth will create more congestion.
20.08.07		Forth crossing options go public Members of the public will have a chance to see the two final options for a new Forth crossing.
03.07.07		Memorial for Forth Bridge workers A memorial to workers killed during the construction of the Forth Bridge is officially unveiled.
07.12.04		Motorists attack bridge toll rise Tom Minogue, of Fifers Against Toll Increases [FATI], claimed to have received up to 100 phone calls and e-mails backing his stance on the 20p increase... The two-day inquiry at the Corus Hotel in North Queensferry has heard that if the proposed new toll of £1 was thrown out, the debts incurred in running and maintaining the bridge would spiral to £29.17m by 2018. [more]
06.12.04		Toll rise 'needed to meet costs' "If there is no increase in tolls it is estimated that the management, maintenance and operation of the Forth Road Bridge would not be affordable and would result in an estimated debt of £29.17m by 2018." [more]
03.11.04		Forth Bridge is branded a danger When one of the BBC reporters, all of whom went undercover as track workers, said that to an untrained eye it looked "potentially dangerous", the inspector said: "To my trained eye it looks dangerous. It is. You don’t have to be, you know, knowledgeable with railway infrastructure to know that there’s something wrong with that." [more]
03.11.04		Electronic tolls on road bridge An electronic toll payment system is to be fitted on the Forth Road Bridge to help reduce queues. The Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta) has given the go-ahead for a company to begin replacing the current manual system on the busy road link. [more]
01.11.04		Misery over after £3.5m repairs to bridge end During the weekend roadworks, Feta saw traffic fall by 31 per cent, with a subsequent £230,000 drop in income from tolls. And the bad news for drivers is roadworks will take place again in four to five years, when work begins on the northbound carriageway. [more]
31.10.04		Jam busting £40m plan to free up roads The minister also pledged to have an existing project - the A8000, which links the M9 to the Forth Road Bridge - completed by 2007. The A8000 has a long history of traffic congestion and is recognised as the weak link in the road network to and from the bridge. Around 29,000 vehicles a day travel up and down the mile-and-a-half long stretch of road. [more]
29.10.04		Forth Road Bridge corrosion found A few broken steel wires and varying levels of corrosion have been found in the Forth Road Bridge's support cables. The discovery was made during the first full-scale cable inspection in the bridge's 40-year history. [more]
02.10.04		Second Forth road bridge 'will add to congestion' Organisations including RSPB Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, WWF Scotland and Scottish Civic Trust claim the potentially £1 billion project would prove "environmentally destructive". [more]
23.09.04		Greens' fear over new bridge plans "Accordingly, any suggestion that the new crossing would carry tram or light rail seems to me to be nebulous. In effect, therefore, the proposed multi-modal crossing would be unlikely to be anything else than a second road bridge, perhaps with various priority measures for public transport." He urged bridge bosses to increase the tolls on private cars at peak hours and use the revenue to boost public transport, such as bus and rail services, and set up a high-speed direct ferry link from south Fife to Leith and Granton. [more]
20.08.04		Lone bridge campaigner unrepentant George Campbell, 57, of Dunecht Court, Glenrothes, believes it is his "democratic right" to force a public inquiry which will delay a 20p increase in the charge for six months. Mr Campbell - who only crosses the bridge a couple of times a month using a park-and-ride bus service - called for the current 80p tolls to be scrapped altogether. He said Forth Estuary Transport Authority generated more than £9m every year through tolls, adding: "I don’t care if it costs £1m for Feta. This is a point of principle. The bridge is a main artery for traffic and is the only way of getting from Fife to Edinburgh for many people." [more]
20.08.04		OneWorld UK: New campaign against second Forth road bridge Campaign groups who successfully fought a second Forth road bridge proposal ten years ago reform to fight plans for a new crossing. Groups include the Cockburn Association, Friends of the Earth Scotland and TRANSform Scotland. The ForthRight Alliance have reassembled in response to the Forth Estuary Transport Authority's (FETA) decision to include a second Forth road bridge option in its transport strategy. The campaigners propose that instead of an additional road crossing FETA should be pursuing sustainable transport alternatives. [more]
16.08.04		Scotsman: Does Souter have the answer to Scotland's biggest traffic jam? A fast ferry commuter link between Fife and Edinburgh could be revived under ambitious plans being drawn up by the transport giant Stagecoach, The Scotsman has learned. The development could head off the need to build a second Forth Road Bridge by providing a quicker, cheaper solution to the growing demand for travel between Fife and Edinburgh. Stagecoach has offered to buy and operate a ferry, which would take just ten minutes to cross between Burntisland and Leith. [more]
02.07.04		Scotsman: Councillors plan for new Forth crossing Councillors who run the Forth Road Bridge are expected to press ahead next week with plans for a new crossing... The principal members of FETA are split over the plans. Fife Council wants work to start as soon as possible, but its Edinburgh counterpart believes that the structure may be only a long-term requirement. [more]
19.06.04		Scotsman: Study claims new Forth bridge could cost more than £1bn The estimated cost a bridge for cars and other road traffic is £300 million, a light rail link would add another £60 m, a tram link another £40 m and a heavy rail link would bring the cost to around £580m. This is a huge amount of money by any standard. But we have to make sure we are not shortsighted about what is required to facilitate the future growth of Edinburgh... [more]
19.06.04		Edinburgh Evening News: Bridging the gaps The estimated cost a bridge for cars and other road traffic is £300 million, a light rail link would add another £60 m, a tram link another £40 m and a heavy rail link would bring the cost to around £580m. This is a huge amount of money by any standard. But we have to make sure we are not shortsighted about what is required to facilitate the future growth of Edinburgh... [more]
18.06.04		Scotland Today: New Forth bridge likely to cost £360 million Bridgemaster Alastair Andrew said: "In the 60s when they were arguing the case for this road bridge it was anticipated that there would never be more than 11 million vehicles passing over it in a year last year we carried 24 million and we're still seeing a three per cent increase year on year." [more]
18.06.04		Edinburgh Evening News: £1bn vision for new bridge over Forth A £1 BILLION vision of a new crossing over the Firth of Forth was unveiled today. The new bridge would provide dual carriageways for traffic and could also carry trams or trains. The project is seen as essential to the future of transport links between the Lothians and Fife. [more]
18.06.04		BBC: Estimates for new bridge revealed The cost of a new bridge across the Firth of Forth has been estimated at between £360m and £400m. The price would be dependent on design and the incorporation of a tram link, while the construction of a rail link would increase it to about £580m. [more]
07.06.04		Scotsman: Increase in road bridge toll delayed DRIVERS may be temporarily spared having to pay £1 to cross the Forth Road Bridge because objectors could force a public inquiry into a planned toll increase. A proposed 20p rise to the current 80p toll for cars and vans is due to be introduced in October. However, two objections have thrown the move into doubt. [more]
07.06.04		Edinburgh Evening News: Let's go with the flow for transport The cost of building a second road bridge would be substantial and the timescale for construction considerable. While such a proposal should not necessarily be ruled out, an immediate, cheaper and more environmentally friendly solution would be the creation of a fast ferry service linking Fife ports such as Rosyth, Burntisland and Kirkcaldy with Edinburgh harbours such as Granton and Leith. [more]
06.06.04		SoS: £300m price tag put on bridge to beat gridlock FETA’s chief executive Douglas Sinclair said a new crossing was of "key strategic significance" to the whole of the country: "It is vital to the nation’s economic health. We can’t procrastinate, especially when you bear in mind that it will take 10 years to deliver a new crossing." [more]
24.05.04		BBC: Forth Bridge £1 coin to be issued The new £1 coin - featuring one of Scotland's most famous landmarks - will be issued this weekend. . [more]
30.04.04		BBC: Forth bridge traffic standstill Rush-hour traffic on the Forth Road Bridge was brought to a virtual standstill after a boat fell off its trailer. [more]
20.04.04		BBC: Company awarded bridge contract A Tyneside-based company has won a £1.5m contract to paint one of the country's best-known bridges.[more]
08.04.04		BBC: Weekend bridge closure planned Commuters have been warned to expect considerable delays during major resurfacing work on the Forth Road Bridge in forthcoming weeks. [more]
05.03.04		BBC: Move to drive up Forth tolls Tolls on the Forth Road Bridge are set to rise by 25% under proposals from its operators. [more]
04.07.03		BBC: Rail bridge shuts for repair The Forth Bridge is to be closed for the first time in 70 years for essential maintenance work. [more]
14.05.04		BBC: Darling's chit chat a rail pain If you happen upon a sincere looking chap with grey hair, dark eyebrows and a bored expression being quizzed about the departure times of the 6pm from Paddington, brighten his day with an intervention .... about the relative merits of an historic cantilever rail bridge. [more]
27.05.02		BBC: Facelift in store for rail bridge A new contract has been awarded to repaint and carry out repairs on Scotland's world-famous Forth Rail Bridge. [more]
18.02.03		BBC: Rail bridge demolition touted One of Scotland's architectural marvels may need to be demolished due to soaring maintenance costs, an MSP has claimed. Labour's Helen Eadie said there had been an "incredible" increase in the cost of maintenance on the Forth Rail Bridge. [more]
29.12.01		BBC: MP seeks bridge repair assurances Urgently needed repairs to the Forth Rail Bridge could be undermined by the uncertain future of Railtrack and possible delays in World Heritage listing, Linlithgow MP Tam Dalyell has warned. [more]
06.04.99		BBC: Best of British sites nominated The Lake District, the Forth Rail Bridge and Liverpool's waterfront are among 25 sites around the UK that have been put forward for inclusion on a list of World Heritage sites. [more]
21.08.98		BBC: On track for protection The Forth Rail Bridge, parts of Manchester and a railway line between London and Bristol are among sites listed by the government as proposed "wonders of the world"... [more]