Bridge closures hit six-year high

Published on Friday 8 February 2008 09:13

THE number of closures on the Forth Road Bridge caused by high winds is at a six-year high.

New figures released today show the ageing bridge was shut to high-sided vehicles for nearly 11 days in total during 2006-07.

The average annual closure is 113 hours, something which hauliers today say is costing them and the economy dear.

The figures come just one week after three lanes of the bridge were closed after a lorry overturned in high winds. Tunnel campaigners today say the closures weaken the case for a new bridge across the Firth of Forth.

But Transport Scotland, the government agency in charge of the project, says the new bridge will include the latest wind-shielding technology to reduce the number of times it needs to be closed.

Gavin Scott, the Freight Transport Association's head of policy in Scotland, said: "Obviously the weather is one factor out of everyone's control but I think we need to be looking at innovations like they have at the Severn Bridge, where they managed to engineer out this problem with wind shields.

"The closures cause huge problems for the freight trade because it is expensive to go round via Kincardine and you are also losing a lot of time."

A study published by Transport Scotland last summer showed the number of diversions could be slashed from an average of 22 at the moment to just two a year if a three-metre wind shield was installed.

Engineer John Carson, who founded pro-tunnel group ForthTag, said: "This does seem to be a staggering amount of time for the bridge to be closed.

"They are always quoting the Severn Bridge as an example of the success of wind shielding but the wind is greater in the Forth area than on the Severn. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the bridge and it is not too late to look at the tunnel option again."

Ministers decided last year that a cable stayed-style bridge will be built west of the existing bridge on a route that skirts the western fringes of South Queensferry.

The five-and-a-half-year construction project for the new bridge, which will cost between 3.2 billion and 4.2bn, is expected to get under way in 2011.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: "Bridge technology and design has moved on significantly since the 1960s and continues to develop.

Wind shielding will be built in to reduce the potential for closure."

&#149 Pop-up adverts for porn websites were planted on the Forth Road Bridge website, it was reported today.

IT experts revealed hackers had accessed the site and users were being redirected to a Turkish website carrying computer viruses.

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority admitted its website had been closed for several hours on Wednesday following a security breach.

&#149 www.feta.gov.uk