Bridge changes hypothetical

I WRITE to put the record straight after the highly misleading article that appeared in Scotland on Sunday on 9 March (“Call to rebuild Forth Road Bridge to carry more traffic”, News).

The article states that “plans have been revealed” to replace the deck of the Forth Road Bridge. However, this is simply not true.

A rolling 15-year programme of major projects to strengthen and improve the bridge’s structure and replace major components is set out in the Bridge Authority’s long-term Capital Plan. No project to replace the deck of the Forth Road Bridge has ever appeared in this plan and nobody is proposing that such a project be undertaken now or in the future.

The story is very loosely based on a second-hand account of remarks made at a lecture. My comments on the possibility of replacing the deck were entirely hypothetical. This was stressed at the meeting, so it is regrettable that the article suggested otherwise.

Barry Colford, Chief Engineer & Bridgemaster, Forth Road Bridge