THE Queen called it breathtaking. The First Minister said it was a modern marvel. And the tens of thousands of people who walked across it at the weekend were just as impressed. There is no doubt about it: Scotland has fallen a bit in love with the Queensferry Crossing.
It did not always look like it would be so successful though. This week’s official opening has been a triumph, but remember the criticism over the delays? The original completion target of December last year was missed, as was a revised target of June. But as the project director David Climie told The Herald, the hold-ups are the equivalent of being two hours over on the renovation of a house.
Elsewhere, the bridge has been an almost total success, particularly on the budget which has come in some £2bn under the original estimate. It is a great pity most of the steel used was Chinese rather then British, but that is a reflection of the wider state of the steel industry in the UK rather than any fault of the consortium that built the bridge.
As for the bigger picture, it is one of almost unqualified success. Here is a great achievement of modern construction that has joined two other beloved bridges to form a new triumvirate. It is an engineering, a cultural, and it has to be said a political success and it looks like it is going to have no trouble at all in claiming its status as an icon of Scotland.
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