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Forth Road Bridge reopening to cyclists and other trafficForth Bridges

Forth Road Bridge reopening to cyclists and other traffic

Reopening comes almost two weeks earlier than officials had promised
by Alex Bowden
Tue, Dec 22, 2015 16:39
2

The BBC reports that the Forth Road Bridge is to reopen at 6am tomorrow (Wednesday) after temporary repairs were completed ahead of schedule. The east footpath will be open to cyclists and pedestrians from the same time, weather permitting.

The bridge across the Firth, just North of Edinburgh, normally carries 70,000 vehicles a day, but was closed on December 3 after a 2cm crack was found on the southbound deck. The Forth Road Bridge Twitter account subsequently warned cyclists to stay off, emphasising that it was closed to all.

The reopening comes almost two weeks earlier than officials had promised, engineers having installed a steel splint to repair the cracked truss at the north end of the bridge. Cars, buses, coaches and bikes will again be able to use the bridge, but movement in the pin located at the lower section of the truss end link during testing showed it was not sufficient to support HGV traffic. A permanent repair will take about six weeks.

Forth Road Bridge
'Scotland'
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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2 comments

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userfriendly | 8 years ago
2 likes

Another blow to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as her SNP government's bridge reopening date estimating skills are called into question.

At the time of this report, Labour opposition leader Kezia Dugdale was calling for an inquiry, citing anguish and a deep sense of loss, initially having been promised "another two weeks of whining about the bridge closure - my Christmas will be ruined. Ruined!"

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brooksby replied to userfriendly | 8 years ago
1 like

userfriendly wrote:

Another blow to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as her SNP government's bridge reopening date estimating skills are called into question.

But isn't this standard estimating procedure? Even Montgomery Scott did it. Always say something will take longer, then you look awesome when you complete it in less time.

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