DIRE predictions the Forth Road Bridge could be forced to close to lorries by 2016 have been dispelled by new tests showing the crossing could still have decades of useful life.
The latest examination of the main cables of the suspension bridge found a dehumidification system installed in 2010 had succeeded in arresting further corrosion, prompting fresh criticism of the decision to plough ahead with a £1.6 billion replacement crossing.
A report prepared for a board meeting of the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta), detailed the results of the first tests carried out since the new system was activiated.
Bridgemaster Barry Colford said: "The rate of deterioration of cable strength has been reduced and the factor of safety against failure of the cables has not materially diminished."
A spokesman for Feta said the bridge had lost 10% of its strength when tested in 2008 and this had not worsened significantly by last year.
Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian, said: "This report removes the central justification the SNP made for blowing over a billion pounds on a new bridge. The Scottish Greens were the only party arguing strongly that repairing the existing bridge would have cost a fraction of the price"
However, Transport Scotland, the government agency overseeing construction of the replacement crossing, due to open by 2016, defended the investment.
A spokesman said: "A degree of uncertainty will remain. Damage to the wires inside the cables cannot be repaired."
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 hereComments are closed on this article