Capital urges MSPs to put new Forth crossing on hold

Published on Monday 14 September 2009 21:27

MSPs will be urged to put the brakes on the £2 billion new Forth crossing unless it is found to be vital, according to new City of Edinburgh Council plans.

The council wants construction of the bridge to be delayed until 2011-12, when an update on the corrosion of the existing road bridge's main cables should be available. Proposals to be considered next week include lobbying the Scottish Parliament over a bill to be introduced in November to approve the project.

A council report states: "There is currently insufficient engineering evidence on whether there is enough wrong with the current bridge to warrant the expense of constructing a new one. But having a fully-designed proposal and powers to construct in place makes sense."

The council believes the huge savings that could be made by abandoning or postponing the project could be switched into other transport projects, such as extending Edinburgh's tram network and upgrading rail lines.

Work on the new bridge is due to start in 2011 and be completed in 2016, but engineers said they were confident that blowing dry air into the cables of the existing bridge would halt corrosion.