BAD weather has forced another yet delay in the completion of the new Queensferry Crossing.
Strong winds have been blamed for the failure to complete Scotland's biggest transport infrastructure project in a generation by its latest deadline.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown will today reveal at Holyrood the latest revised opening date for the third bridge over the Firth of Forth.
Mr Brown has already been forced to tell MSPs that the scheduled date for completion had been pushed back for a second time due to "adverse weather conditions".
And he said he would give further details on when the 1.7-mile link across the Forth is expected to open when he appears before the parliament's Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) Committee today.
Engineers had originally hoped to open the £1.35 billion structure, which is replacing the Forth Road Bridge for cars and trucks, last December but that timescale slipped due to poor weather affecting construction.
Mr Brown was pressed for clarity on the opening date by Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser following reports the bridge would not be ready by the revised target of the end of May.
He responded: "Following my recent appearance at the REC committee, I asked FCBC, the contractor, to carry out a thorough review of their programme through to project completion.
"That work has indicated that adverse weather conditions, particularly wind, has had an impact on the removal of the construction cranes and, therefore, on the estimated completion date.
"Transport Scotland is currently assessing that review carried out by FCBC and I expect to receive a report from them this evening.
"I've agreed to provide a detailed update to the committee."
Mr Fraser said: "Does he recognise that this is now the second delay there has been in the completion of the bridge?
"We were promised by the First Minister previously it would be completed by the end of last year, we were then told by the cabinet secretary it would be completed by the end of May, we are now looking at a further delay.
"When will it be ready?"
Mr Brown would not be drawn on reports that contractors had asked for the completion date to be extended to September.
He said the seven-year project was around a quarter of a billion pounds below budget "and that won't change".
The minister added: "This bridge will be there for 120 years, it's very important that we both get it right and that we do it safely.
"I'm sure Murdo Fraser is aware of the conditions in the Forth.
"For example, it has taken 65 days to actually take down one of the cranes which would normally have taken 15 days because of the consistently high winds.
"As soon as the wind speed goes above 25mph, it's not possible to work on that, so that has contributed to this."
The bridge is the longest of its kind in the world with the highest towers in Britain but the project has also brought controversy and an independent investigation into pay and conditions for the 1,300 workers had to be launched in the final stages of its construction.
Other setbacks including having to call in the bomb squad after suspected explosives were found by workers also brought delays.
When the Queensferry Crossing opens, the Forth Road Bridge will be retained as a dedicated public transport corridor and will also provide a largely traffic-free environment for cyclists and walkers across the Forth.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel