Queensferry Crossing

The Queensferry Crossing (formerly the Forth Replacement Crossing) is a road bridge in Scotland. It was built alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge and carries the M90 motorway across the Firth of Forth between Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, and Fife, at North Queensferry.

Proposals for a second Forth Road crossing, to meet unexpected demand, were first put forward in the 1990s, but no action was taken until structural issues were discovered in the Forth Road Bridge in 2004. In 2006-2007 Transport Scotland carried out a study and in December 2007, took the decision to proceed with a replacement bridge. The following year it was announced that the existing bridge would be retained as a public transport link. The Forth Crossing Act received Royal Assent in January 2011. In April 2011, the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors Consortium were awarded the contract and construction began in late Summer/Autumn of 2011.

The Queensferry Crossing is a three-tower cable-stayed bridge, with an overall length of . Around of new connecting roads were built, including new and upgraded junctions at Ferrytoll in Fife, South Queensferry and Junction 1A on the M9.

The bridge was first due to be completed by December 2016, but this deadline was extended to August 2017 after several delays. It is the third bridge across the Forth at Queensferry, alongside the Forth Road Bridge completed in 1964, and the Forth Rail Bridge completed in 1890. Following a public vote, it was formally named on 26 June 2013 and opened to traffic on 30 August 2017. The official opening was carried out on 4 September 2017 by Queen Elizabeth II, fifty-three years to the day after she opened the adjacent Forth Road Bridge.

Background

A crossing route over the Forth had existed at the site since the eleventh century, when the queen of Scotland, Margaret, founded a free ferry to take pilgrims north to St Andrews. The site of the ferry crossing became the location of the Forth Road Bridge, which opened in 1964. Proposals for an additional road crossing at Queensferry were drawn up in the early 1990s, as part of the "Setting Forth" consultation document prepared by the Scottish Office. The plans met stiff opposition from environmentalists and from the City of Edinburgh Council on the grounds of increased traffic. Following the Labour victory in the 1997 general election, the proposals were shelved.

The existing bridge had a planned design life of 120 years, but by the early years of the 21st century the planned theoretical capacity for the bridge was being routinely exceeded. It was designed for up to 11 million vehicles per year, but this had risen steadily to 23 million vehicles in 2006. Between 2003 and 2005, an inspection programme found that the main suspension cables had suffered an estimated 8–10% loss of strength as a result of corrosion. Projections highlighted the likelihood of an accelerating loss of strength, with traffic restrictions to limit loading required in 2014 in the worst-case scenario. In 2006-2007 Transport Scotland carried out a study to examine the options and in December 2007, the decision was made to proceed with a replacement bridge.

The strategic transport importance of the road bridge, and the threat of closure by 2019 if major structural work was not successful, led to fears of serious economic consequences, especially as work on a new crossing was estimated to take up to 11 years. Scottish Transport Minister Nicol Stephen commissioned a new study, which priced a second Forth Road Bridge at £300 million, in 2003. The Forth Estuary Transport Authority voiced support for a new bridge in 2005, and in 2006 the UK Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling, spoke in favour of the idea.

Planning

In 2007, the Forth Replacement Crossing Study was commissioned by Transport Scotland to examine various options for new bridges or tunnels across the Forth. The report recommended adoption of a cable-stayed bridge, located to the west of the Forth Road Bridge, as the preferred solution. The study concluded that this option was significantly cheaper than a tunnel, would take less time to construct, and would represent better value for money, though it was noted that a tunnel would have fewer environmental impacts. In December 2007 finance secretary John Swinney announced that a new cable-stayed bridge would be constructed, with an estimated cost of between £3.25 billion and £4.22 billion. He claimed it would be "the largest construction project in a generation in Scotland".

There was opposition to the project on environmental, traffic and cost grounds. The ForthRight Alliance, an umbrella group including Friends of the Earth, the Scottish Green Party, the RSPB, sustainable transport groups and other local organisations, opposed the scheme as being "both unwelcome and unnecessary". Another group, Forth Tunnel Action Group, campaigned for a tunnel as the solution with lowest costs and fewest long-term environmental impacts.

It was initially suggested that the new bridge would be funded via the Scottish Futures Trust, an alternative to public-private partnership funding for major public-sector schemes. However, the Scottish Government announced in December 2008 that public funding would be used. As part of the Scottish Government's Strategic Transport Projects Review, the new Forth crossing was priced at between £1.72 billion and £2.34 billion. Under the revised scheme, the existing bridge will be retained for public transport, cyclists and pedestrians, and the new bridge was to be operational by 2016.

A joint venture between consultancies Arup and Jacobs was appointed as project manager, and in February 2008 environmental and technical studies were begun, continuing through 2009. Public consultations were held, and some changes to the scheme were made in response to the comments received. An environmental statement was published in November 2009, coinciding with the introduction of the Forth Crossing Bill into the Scottish Parliament by John Swinney. A majority of MSPs voted in favour of the new legislation on 16 December 2010, and the Forth Crossing Act received Royal Assent in January 2011.

Bidding process

In 2009, Transport Scotland solicited for tenders to construct the proposed bridge. Although Transport Scotland received 39 expressions of interest, concerns over the risks associated with the fixed-price contract resulted in only two consortia of large construction companies bidding. Due to the bidders' concerns that the bidding process itself would prove to be an expensive proposition, the Scottish Government allocated £10 million to defray the bidders' costs during the full bidding process, should the project be abandoned.

The two consortia were Forthspan, which included Morgan Sindall, BAM Nuttall and Balfour Beatty; and Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC), which consists of Dragados, Hochtief

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