Letter: A bridge too far

John Kelly (Letters, 29 March) wonders whether I spoke in favour of an additional road crossing of the Forth to his Probus club in 2007. The only Probus club I've ever spoken to was in my ward of Portobello - where I was the councillor from 1994 to 2007.

My colleagues on the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta) at the time would no doubt have been surprised at my making any such statement - as, along with all Edinburgh councillors, I always voted in Feta against any new crossing.

Nevertheless, even if Mr Kelly's recollection is accurate, the fact remains that a second internal inspection of the existing bridge's main cables took place in February and March 2008. Feta reported in June of that year that "any consideration of a restriction in traffic loading is now more likely to occur between 2017 and 2021" - rather than 2013 as was thought after the first internal inspection in 2004.

In March 2008 Feta began to dehumidify the main cables - a system now fully operational for more than 18 months and showing "encouraging" results (as is also the case with the first Severn Bridge). In July 2008 Feta said it had a "high degree of confidence" that drying out the cables would halt the corrosion found within them. Indeed, such is the success of this system that the Humber Bridge Board also began to install cable drying last March.

A February 2008 Feta report showed that recabling the bridge - if required - was possible at a capital cost of between 91 million and 122m. These facts suggest anyone looking at the evidence today would conclude that awaiting the results of the third internal inspection of the cables planned for this October would be more prudent than signing a contract worth 790m as part payment for a total project costing up to 1.62 billion in the midst of a Scottish election campaign.

Lawrence Marshall

ForthRight Alliance

Rose Street

Edinburgh

Mr Marshall (Letters, 28 March) is not the first Edinburgh resident I have heard dismissing the new Forth Bridge investment.If he would care to join the daily commute from Fife for a few years and experience the all too common sensation of sitting in a jam on a worn out bridge rocking above the waters, he might think differently.

He might also consider the hundreds of businesses and services in Edinburgh that rely on this workforce and on this vital link. Beyond that, it is surely the most important piece of investment that Scotland can make to secure the employment and income he speaks of for the rest of the country, to maintain this vital transport link for the farming, tourism and engineering industries north of "the water".

There are other cities and livelihoods north of Edinburgh!

Janet Ellis

Garvock Hill

Dunfermline, Fife