£100m Forth bridge 'masterminds' unveiled

But engineering experts said the Scottish Government had "put the cart before the horse" by awarding the massive contract before deciding how the 4.2 billion bridge would be funded.

The joint venture, led by Arup and Jacobs, has been named by Transport Scotland as preferred bidder for Scotland's largest project consultancy contract.

Its members have previously worked on the resund crossing linking Denmark with Sweden, the Nelson Mandela bridge in Johannesburg and the Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong, which is due to open next year. The consortium will act as project managers and run the competition to find a contractor to build the bridge, which is due to be appointed in 2011.

A competition for the consultancy contract, awarded yesterday, was announced in May, when bidders were told the project could be a bridge or tunnel because no decision had been made then on the type of crossing.

At the time, Transport Scotland estimated the project would take between nine and 11 years, but John Swinney, the finance secretary, said this week that the bridge would be open "in around nine years' time".

Jacobs was in charge of preparing five major background reports for Transport Scotland which ultimately recommended a cable-stayed bridge because it could be built more quickly, more cheaply and with fewer disadvantages than other bridges and tunnels.

The consortium includes Flint & Neill Partnership, which has worked on plans to repair the corroded Forth Road Bridge, Dissing & Weitling and EC Harris.

The team will be led by Alan Seywright of Jacobs. Mike Glover of Arup will act as project manager, while Naeem Hussain of Arup takes on the role of main crossing manager for the bridge.

The team will start work next month, providing specialist skills like architecture and aesthetics, geotechnics, environment and landscaping, budgeting, statutory processes and health and safety. It will report to a project director at Transport Scotland, who has yet to be appointed.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) said one of the first things the consortium would want to know was how the bridge would be paid for.

The SNP government pledged that a decision would be made this autumn, but when Mr Swinney announced the bridge on Wednesday, he said work on funding options was ongoing.

These options include an unproven public-private method known as the Scottish Futures Trust.

Derek Elder, ICE's Scotland director, said: "The timing is very tight and the funding mechanism is not transparent. (Awarding] this contract now is putting the cart before the horse."

Ainslie McLaughlin, director of major transport infrastructure projects for Transport Scotland, added: "This joint venture brings together the industry's leading players and renowned consultants with a proven track record in delivering world-class infrastructure projects."