Misery over after £3.5m repairs to bridge end

Published on 01/11/2004 12:23

MONTHS of frustration for drivers are over following the announcement that roadworks on the Forth Road Bridge are completed.

Alastair Andrew, general manager of the bridge’s operator, the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta), said: "Our contractors completed the 3.5 million contract on Sunday afternoon."

This summer’s wet and windy weather held up work to resurface the 40-year-old bridge’s southbound carriageway.

The resurfacing contract was carried out over two phases, with a break in July and August to minimise disruption to Scotland’s tourist industry.

The roadworks were restricted to weekends to avoid disrupting busy weekday commuter traffic.

Out of 19 available weekends for the roadworks, only six were totally dry. Contractors were forced to call off on two weekends because the weather was so bad.

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.

Mr Andrew added: "Because of the year-on-year increase in traffic crossing the Forth Road Bridge, allied with more heavy goods vehicles using the bridge, resurfacing work will become increasingly frequent."