The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the Scottish Cabinet’s decision to approve the building of a replacement crossing for the failing Forth road bridge but says it must be a bridge. Gavin Scott, Head of Policy Scotland said ‘The current executive has agreed in principle that a replacement crossing is necessary. Both tunnel and bridge options are being studied by the consultants but FTA believes that a bridge is the only sensible option.

‘Whilst a tunnel may be superficially an attractive option, there are problems for the freight industry that mitigate against this. Most tunnels of any length impose severe restrictions on the carriage of hazardous cargoes. Some are banned, some must be escorted or have separation and speed limits applied. A tunnel of this length would also need extra service tunnels that would significantly increase the cost.

‘Furthermore FTA understands that the geology of the Forth at Queensferry is not suitable for a tunnel. This would mean that a tunnel would need to be positioned several miles upstream from the current bridge. This would present an unwelcome diversion for the majority of traffic that would wish to use it and cut a scar through an environmental Special Protection Area.

‘A new bridge at Queensferry would link directly into the existing road network. It would have a deck wide enough and strong enough to cope with modern heavy goods vehicles with room for a hard shoulder, allowing breakdown recovery without disruption to traffic. Modern designs and materials would drastically reduce maintenance requirements, and the road surface would be thick enough to allow overnight skimming and resurfacing.

‘The problems with the closure of the current structure during high winds could be engineered out of a modern bridge. By way of example, the second Severn crossing, fitted with wind shielding, has never had to close to high-sided vehicles, while restrictions on the older Severn Bridge are commonplace.’