Lost Edinburgh: building the Forth Road Bridge

SINCE opening in 1964 the Forth Road Bridge has grown to become one of the country’s most important transport links.

It spans the Firth of Forth, connecting Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry and at a total length of 2,512 metres, it was the longest suspension bridge span outside the United States and the fourth-longest span in the world at the time of its construction.

The crossing is made up of a dual carriageway road with two lanes in each direction bordered by footpaths on each side.

Proposals for a second crossing at Queensferry were first mooted in the 1990s, but it was not until structural issues with the bridge were discovered in 2005 that momentum for a new bridge gathered pace.

The decision to proceed with a replacement bridge was taken at the end of 2007, although the following year it was announced that the existing bridge would be retained as a public transport link.

Construction began in September 2011.