William Brown, the designer of the Forth Road Bridge, has died at the age of 76.

The bridge on which he collaborated with Gilbert Roberts was opened by the Queen on September 4, 1964.

Born in 1928, Dr Brown created some of the most innovative bridges of the past 50 years, including the Severn crossing in the west of England.

He also designed the Messina bridge which, if funding is found, will span the Messina Straits in Italy and will be the world's longest suspension bridge. Made an OBE in 1966, he spent 30 years working for consultants Freeman Fox and Partners before creating the consulting engineering practice Brown Beech and Associates in 1987.