Fourth road bridge, Scotland

Transport Scotland is set to award a major contract to supply cement for the construction of the new £1.5bn Forth Road Bridge to the German firm Hochtief, despite calls for the contract to be handed to the Scottish company, Lafarge.

Although Hochtief is widely expected to secure the deal, Scottish ministers have called for the contractor be kept local to help improve the country’s economy.

Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC), which is carrying out the project, has already finalised orders from three companies from China, Poland and Spain to supply more than 37,000t of steel for the project.

4,200 tonnes of steel will be come from at Crist in Gdansk, Poland; 8,500 tonnes will be delivered from Tecade-Megusa in Seville, Spain, with a further 24,500t from Zhenhua Heavy Industries in Shanghai, China.

The FCBC consortium, which has won the principal contract to build the new bridge and connecting roads at £790m, started the construction work last year. The total estimated cost of delivering the project is now between £1.45bn and £1.6bn, which a substantial reduction on the previous estimate of £1.7-2.3bn.

Transport Scotland noted that the Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC) is designed to safeguard a vital cross-Forth connection in the country’s transport network.

The Forth Road Bridge runs through the Firth of Forth, linking Edinburgh at South Queensferry to Fife at North Queensferry. The road is showing signs of deterioration and is not suitable as the long-term main crossing route.

Following an extensive study, the Scottish Government finalised that the FRC would be a cable stayed bridge to the west of the existing Forth Road Bridge. The proposed new bridge will have three single column towers and span 2.7km, including approach viaducts. It will carry two general lanes of traffic in each direction, as well as hard shoulders to ease congestion currently experienced on the route. It is expected to be complete by 2016.

 

Image: The Forth Road Bridge will be 2.7km long cable-stayed bridge and will carry two general lanes in each direction. It will replace the existing bridge, pictured. Photo: Klaus with K.