Forth bridge repairs set to cause delays

LONG delays face drivers using the Forth Road Bridge next weekend when traffic is restricted during urgent repairs.

Vehicles will be limited to one lane in each direction from 3am to noon next Saturday and Sunday, 11 March, with officials warning that significant queues are expected to build up after 9am.

A spokesman said the work had been arranged at short notice because a routine inspection had shown new damage to nuts on the bolts on vertical steel hanger ropes. These hold up the vehicle carriageways by connecting them to the main suspension cables.

The work involves replacing cracked nuts found at both ends of one of the 944 bolts.

It follows cracks being found in nine nuts in 2007, which have since been replaced. All the others will also be replaced.

Motorists are advised to delay their journeys or take an alternative route.

A spokesman said: “We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes.”