93-521: The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the longest suspension bridge in the world outside the United States. The bridge spans the Firth of Forth , connecting Edinburgh , at South Queensferry , to Fife , at North Queensferry . It replaced a centuries-old ferry service to carry vehicular traffic, cyclists and pedestrians across
186-410: A cable-stayed bridge in which the deck is in compression. Cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges may appear to be similar, but are quite different in principle and in their construction. In suspension bridges, large main cables (normally two) hang between the towers and are anchored at each end to the ground. The main cables, which are free to move on bearings in the towers, bear the load of
279-496: A capital of £10,000. Seven years later, the assets were sold to Charles Frederick Dixon, who registered the company on a Stock Exchange in 1893. By 1913, it had 600 employees. During 1967, the company was acquired by The Cementation Company . Three years later, Trafalgar House purchased Cementation; it also acquired Redpath Dorman Long from Dorman Long Group in 1982, after which the two subsidiaries were merged in 1990 to create Cleveland Structural Engineering. That business
372-446: A management buyout in 2000, the company operated as an independent concern, with considerable financial backing from Saudi Arabia's Al Rushaid Group . However, the company soon found itself in multiple legal disputes due to alleged quality issues and other concerns on its work on major projects such as The Shard and New Wembley Stadium ; these proved to be not only costly in financial terms but also damaging to its reputation. During
465-456: A 200 feet span (also termed Beose Bridge) was constructed near Sagar, India during 1828–1830 by Duncan Presgrave, Mint and Assay Master. The Clifton Suspension Bridge (designed in 1831, completed in 1864 with a 214 m central span), is similar to the Sagar bridge. It is one of the longest of the parabolic arc chain type. The current Marlow suspension bridge was designed by William Tierney Clark and
558-492: A bridge has a tendency to collapse simply because of the gravitational forces acting on the materials of which the bridge is made. Live load refers to traffic that moves across the bridge as well as normal environmental factors such as changes in temperature, precipitation, and winds. Dynamic load refers to environmental factors that go beyond normal weather conditions, factors such as sudden gusts of wind and earthquakes. All three factors must be taken into consideration when building
651-468: A bridge. Silver Bridge (USA) was an eyebar chain highway bridge, built in 1928, that collapsed in late 1967, killing forty-six people. The bridge had a low-redundancy design that was difficult to inspect. The collapse inspired legislation to ensure that older bridges were regularly inspected and maintained. Following the collapse a bridge of similar design was immediately closed and eventually demolished. A second similarly-designed bridge had been built with
744-757: A bridge. The principles of suspension used on a large scale also appear in contexts less dramatic than road or rail bridges. Light cable suspension may prove less expensive and seem more elegant for a cycle or footbridge than strong girder supports. An example of this is the Nescio Bridge in the Netherlands, and the Roebling designed 1904 Riegelsville suspension pedestrian bridge across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. The longest pedestrian suspension bridge, which spans
837-480: A ferry service to mitigate the impact on travellers. On 23 December, the bridge was reopened for all traffic except heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). On 4 February, it was announced this had been pushed back to March, due to further problems with the truss end link pins in the southern towers, which required additional remedial work. However, a limited number of HGVs were allowed to cross, in a northbound direction only, between 11 pm and 4 am each night. On 20 February 2016,
930-401: A frequent timetable with capacity anticipated to be around 10,000 passenger journeys a week. The bridge's central main span is 1,006 metres (3,301 ft) long, its two side spans are each 408 metres (1,339 ft) long, and the approach viaducts are 257 metres (843 ft) on the north side and 438 metres (1,437 ft) on the south side. The total length is 2,512 metres (8,241 ft). It
1023-403: A higher margin of safety and remained in service until 1991. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge , (USA), 1940, was vulnerable to structural vibration in sustained and moderately strong winds due to its plate-girder deck structure. Wind caused a phenomenon called aeroelastic fluttering that led to its collapse only months after completion. The collapse was captured on film. There were no human deaths in
SECTION 10
#17328441025251116-593: A large Labour majority on a 16% swing . Afterwards, media speculated that the Executive had turned against the proposals, and Tavish Scott eventually confirmed their rejection and the retention of the existing toll structure on 1 March 2006. FETA condemned the decision, while local opposition MSPs charged the Minister that his tolling review short-changed Fifers as tolls were axed on the Erskine Bridge , leaving tolls on just
1209-408: A maximum of £4 during evening rush hours. All tolls would be halved for cars with more than one occupant, as an incentive for motorists to share cars and make fewer journeys. According to FETA's chairman Lawrence Marshall , the system would provide the most efficiency; he said that 80% of peak-time journeys are made by single-occupant vehicles. The proposal, passed with the chairman's casting vote after
1302-525: A pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in the city of Morbi, Gujarat, India collapsed, leading to the deaths of at least 141 people. Cleveland Bridge %26 Engineering Company Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a British bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington . It was operational for 144 years. From the founding of the company in 1877, it had
1395-834: A presence in Darlington. While initially focused on fabrication, the company became one of the major bridgebuilders in the world, having constructed structures across all five inhabited continents. It built numerous landmarks around the world, including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe; the Tees Transporter Bridge ; the Forth Road and Humber suspension bridges in the UK; Hong Kong's Tsing Ma Bridge , and London's Wembley Stadium Arch . Cleveland Bridge's Dubai subsidiary, which
1488-641: A proposal by Robert Stevenson for a bridge over the River Almond near Edinburgh . Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct (begun 1847) consists of three sections supported by cables. The timber structure essentially hides the cables; and from a quick view, it is not immediately apparent that it is even a suspension bridge. The main suspension cables in older bridges were often made from a chain or linked bars, but modern bridge cables are made from multiple strands of wire. This not only adds strength but improves reliability (often called redundancy in engineering terms) because
1581-462: A second road crossing at Queensferry had been made in the 1990s, but were shelved, despite preliminary work on route selection. Following the discovery of potentially serious structural issues with the Forth Road Bridge in 2005 the proposals were revisited and plans advanced. The decision to proceed with a replacement bridge was taken at the end of 2007, and it was announced the following year that
1674-538: A sequence generally described as follows. Depending on length and size, construction may take anywhere between a year and a half (construction on the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge took only 19 months) up to as long as a decade (the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge's construction began in May 1986 and was opened in May 1998 – a total of twelve years). Suspension bridges are typically ranked by the length of their main span. These are
1767-499: A temporary walkway. Poured sockets are used to make a high strength, permanent cable termination. They are created by inserting the suspender wire rope (at the bridge deck supports) into the narrow end of a conical cavity which is oriented in-line with the intended direction of strain. The individual wires are splayed out inside the cone or 'capel', and the cone is then filled with molten lead-antimony-tin (Pb80Sb15Sn5) solder. Most suspension bridges have open truss structures to support
1860-627: Is considered the last remaining Inca rope bridge and is rebuilt annually. The first iron chain suspension bridge in the Western world was the Jacob's Creek Bridge (1801) in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania , designed by inventor James Finley . Finley's bridge was the first to incorporate all of the necessary components of a modern suspension bridge, including a suspended deck which hung by trusses. Finley patented his design in 1808, and published it in
1953-564: The A823(M) at a roundabout with the A823 south of Dunfermline, next to Rosyth railway station . The northern approach roads were built by Whatlings Ltd of Glasgow, later bought by Alfred McAlpine . Seven people died during construction before the bridge was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on 4 September 1964. The ferry service was discontinued as of that date. The bridge's management
SECTION 20
#17328441025252046-541: The Beijing National Stadium . Mr Justice Jackson's 2008 judgement in the Technology and Construction Court was highly critical of both parties unwillingness to settle earlier in such an expensive case where the core evidence extended to over 500 lever arch files, and photocopying costs alone were £1 million. He highlighted the large number of items at dispute where the sums involved were substantially exceeded by
2139-560: The Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme pending restart of production. FRP was ultimately unable to secure a buyer for the business. Accordingly, on 10 September 2021, it announced the company would permanently close with the loss of a further 133 jobs. They stated £12m would be required to fund the business to the end of 2021. The company assets were sold off in November 2021. In 2022, Cleveland Bridge & Engineering
2232-601: The London and North Eastern Railway two additional ferries to supplement the nearby railway bridge. Due to their success, two more ferry boats were added in the 1940s and 1950s, by which time the ferries were making 40,000 crossings annually, carrying 1.5 million passengers and 800,000 vehicles. With the then newest and nearest bridge spanning the Forth (the Kincardine Bridge , built in 1936) still around 15 miles (24 km) upstream,
2325-797: The Mahakam River , located in Kutai Kartanegara Regency , East Kalimantan district on the Indonesia island of Borneo , was built in 1995, completed in 2001 and collapsed in 2011. Dozens of vehicles on the bridge fell into the Mahakam River . As a result of this incident, 24 people died and dozens of others were injured and were treated at the Aji Muhammad Parikesit Regional Hospital. Meanwhile, 12 people were reported missing, 31 people were seriously injured, and 8 people had minor injuries. Research findings indicate that
2418-448: The live and dead loads of the deck below, upon which traffic crosses. This arrangement allows the deck to be level or to arc upward for additional clearance. Like other suspension bridge types, this type often is constructed without the use of falsework . The suspension cables must be anchored at each end of the bridge, since any load applied to the bridge is transformed into tension in these main cables. The main cables continue beyond
2511-483: The 2000s and 2010s, the company's headcount varied considerably, often rising soon after the awarding of key contracts to the business. During this era, it undertook various activities, including its involvement in various road and railway-based schemes and several major construction projects, such as The Shard and Wembley Stadium . In July 2021, Cleveland Bridge sought further funding from Al Rushaid Group and warned 220 staff of potential redundancies. That same month,
2604-569: The 50th anniversary of the bridge's operation, artist Kate Downie was commissioned to create a print of the bridge and hold an exhibition of works portraying it. On 1 June 2015, Amey took over the maintenance and operating of the bridge on behalf of Transport Scotland from the Forth Estuary Transport Authority, and are now called the Forth Bridges Unit. Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) began to be concerned over
2697-594: The A90 began at Cramond Bridge, over the River Almond on the western outskirts of Edinburgh, near Craigiehall . There were two-level interchanges built at Burnshot, Dolphington (B924) and the Echline junction ( A904 and B800). At Dalmeny there was a bridge over the railway . The southern approach roads were built by A.M. Carmichael Ltd. The 4 mi (6 km) northern approach road had three two-level junctions at Ferry Toll (for
2790-550: The B980), Admiralty (for Rosyth Dockyard via the A985 , and Inverkeithing via the A921 ) and at Mastertown/Masterton (for what would be the fledgling M90 southern terminus). The Masterton junction was an octopus junction, a variation of a clover-leaf junction , with six bridges and a 600 ft viaduct. There were fifteen bridges built for this approach road. The northern approach road terminated as
2883-405: The Forth Road Bridge as its main section. The first crossing at the site of the bridge was established in the 11th century by Margaret , queen consort of King Malcolm III , who founded a ferry service to transport religious pilgrims from Edinburgh to Dunfermline Abbey and St Andrews . Its creation gave rise to the port towns of Queensferry and North Queensferry, which remain to this day;
Forth Road Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-466: The Forth and Tay Road Bridges . When an SNP minority government was formed after the Scottish parliamentary election of May 2007 , a new debate on the abolition of tolls was opened by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson on 31 May 2007, and the abolition was agreed by a large majority. Annual toll income at that point totalled £16,000,000. The Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Bill was introduced in
3069-589: The Forth; railway crossings are made by the nearby Forth Bridge , opened in 1890. The Scottish Parliament voted to scrap tolls on the bridge from February 2008. The adjacent Queensferry Crossing was opened in August 2017 to carry the M90 motorway across the Firth of Forth, replacing the Forth Road Bridge which had exceeded its design capacity. At its peak, the Forth Road Bridge carried 65,000 vehicles per day. The Forth Road Bridge
3162-741: The Philadelphia journal, The Port Folio , in 1810. Early British chain bridges included the Dryburgh Abbey Bridge (1817) and 137 m Union Bridge (1820), with spans rapidly increasing to 176 m with the Menai Bridge (1826), "the first important modern suspension bridge". The first chain bridge on the German speaking territories was the Chain Bridge in Nuremberg . The Sagar Iron Suspension Bridge with
3255-542: The River Paiva, Arouca Geopark , Portugal, opened in April 2021. The 516 metres bridge hangs 175 meters above the river. Where such a bridge spans a gap between two buildings, there is no need to construct towers, as the buildings can anchor the cables. Cable suspension may also be augmented by the inherent stiffness of a structure that has much in common with a tubular bridge . Typical suspension bridges are constructed using
3348-552: The Scottish Parliament on 3 September 2007, passed on 20 December 2007, and received royal assent on 24 January 2008. The tolls were removed on 11 February 2008 at 00:01 GMT. The abolition of the tolls was enacted immediately after a major reconstruction of the northbound toll plaza was completed. In 2011, it was stated that around 800 people had fallen to their deaths since the bridge had opened. A report in 2000 stated that prior to then, four people had survived falling from
3441-531: The United Kingdom's first passenger-carrying driverless bus trial, planned to take place across the Forth Road Bridge public transport corridor by 2021. Five brand new autonomous 42-seater Alexander Dennis Enviro200AV single-decker buses, with autonomous control modifications supplied by Fusion Processing, are operated by Stagecoach Fife on a 14 miles (23 km) park-and-ride route in mixed traffic at up to 50 mph (80 km/h) between Inverkeithing , on
3534-480: The arterial A9 road to be routed across the Forth here, although the unwillingness to have a ferry crossing as part of this route led to the A90 number being assigned instead. There was more lobbying for a road crossing in the 1920s and 1930s, when the only vehicle crossing was a single passenger and vehicle ferry. Sir William Denny championed the expansion of that service in the 1930s, providing and operating on behalf of
3627-536: The bridge at a cost of £15.1 million. The resident design engineer was John Alexander King Hamilton FRSE (1900–1982). It was the longest steel suspension bridge in Europe. It used 210,000 tons of concrete, with 9 miles (14 kilometres) of grade-separated dual-carriageway approach roads . Reed & Mallik built the approach viaducts. Twenty-four individual bridges were built for the approach roads. The 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (7.2 km) southern approach road of
3720-432: The bridge deck. Before the deck is installed, the cables are under tension from their own weight. Along the main cables smaller cables or rods connect to the bridge deck, which is lifted in sections. As this is done, the tension in the cables increases, as it does with the live load of traffic crossing the bridge. The tension on the main cables is transferred to the ground at the anchorages and by downwards compression on
3813-525: The bridge was closed on 1 December 2015, with all traffic using a single lane each way on the northbound carriageway after steelwork defects had been discovered during routine inspections, and traffic was restricted to 7.5 tonnes or less (public service vehicles excepted). On 4 December, the bridge was fully closed when further structural faults were found. It was initially not expected to reopen until January 2016, and Transport Scotland began work to lay on extra trains and buses and considered whether to reintroduce
Forth Road Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-481: The bridge was fully reopened. On 20 January 2016, the Scottish Parliament began an inquiry led by the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee (ICI) to determine the circumstances that led to the discovery of a cracked truss in the bridge's undercarriage. Evidence was heard from: FETA, Transport Minister Derek Mackay, engineers and officials from Amey along with a number of other experts and key personnel. On
3999-456: The bridge's lifespan. These included a dehumidification programme that slowed the rate of corrosion in the main cables by keeping air in the voids between the main cables' strands below 40% humidity. Engineering consultants Faber Maunsell began work on the project in 2006; it took two and a half years to complete at a cost of £7.8 million. As part of the works, some of the corroded cable strands were spliced . The southbound carriageway of
4092-499: The bridge's load. The bridge formed a crucial part of the corridor between south-east and north-east Scotland, linking Edinburgh to Perth , Dundee and Aberdeen by the A90 road and its sister M90 motorway , which used to begin 1 + 2 ⁄ 3 miles (2.7 km) north of the bridge's northern end. The bridge carried around 2.5 million vehicles in its first year, increasing to around 21.4 million vehicles in 2008. The bridge carried its 250 millionth vehicle in 2002. It
4185-458: The bridge, and that the removal of the southbound toll would result in a reduction of congestion without reducing revenue. FETA said the continued charging of tolls was necessary to fund maintenance and improvement works. These included the construction of defences around the submerged piers forming the bases of the main towers to guard against collisions. The main towers were also strengthened with internal steel columns (the original tower structure
4278-614: The bridge. Suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges , which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world. Besides the bridge type most commonly called suspension bridges, covered in this article, there are other types of suspension bridges . The type covered here has cables suspended between towers , with vertical suspender cables that transfer
4371-484: The chains are not attached to abutments as is usual, but instead are attached to the main girders, which are thus in compression. Here, the chains are made from flat wrought iron plates, eight inches (203 mm) wide by an inch and a half (38 mm) thick, rivetted together. The first wire-cable suspension bridge was the Spider Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill (1816), a modest and temporary footbridge built following
4464-623: The collapse of James Finley's nearby Chain Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill (1808). The footbridge's span was 124 m, although its deck was only 0.45 m wide. Development of wire-cable suspension bridges dates to the temporary simple suspension bridge at Annonay built by Marc Seguin and his brothers in 1822. It spanned only 18 m. The first permanent wire cable suspension bridge was Guillaume Henri Dufour 's Saint Antoine Bridge in Geneva of 1823, with two 40 m spans. The first with cables assembled in mid-air in
4557-519: The collapse was largely caused by the construction failure of the vertical hanging clamp. It was also found that poor maintenance, fatigue in the cable hanger construction materials, material quality, and bridge loads that exceed vehicle capacity, can also have an impact on bridge collapse. In 2013 the Kutai Kartanegara Bridge rebuilt the same location and completed in 2015 with a Through arch bridge design. On 30 October 2022, Jhulto Pul ,
4650-517: The collapse; several drivers escaped their cars on foot and reached the anchorages before the span dropped. Yarmouth suspension bridge (England) was built in 1829 and collapsed in 1845, killing 79 people. Peace River Suspension Bridge (Canada), which was completed in 1943, collapsed when the north anchor's soil support for the suspension bridge failed in October 1957. The entire bridge subsequently collapsed. Kutai Kartanegara Bridge (Indonesia) over
4743-535: The committee was deadlocked, was referred to the Scottish Executive in December 2005, and implementation planned for October 2007 subject to approval by Transport Minister Tavish Scott . Environmental groups welcomed the proposal, but local politicians condemned it as simply a means of raising capital. At the same time, Fife councillors counter-proposed the complete removal of tolls. The Scottish Parliament debated
SECTION 50
#17328441025254836-474: The continued levying of tolls was renewed by Parliament (originally that of the UK but now the Scottish Parliament) in 1998, 2003 and 2006. Originally, a toll was paid for each direction of travel, with sets of tollbooths on both carriageways. In 1997, the northbound toll was doubled (from 40p to 80p) and the southbound toll abolished on the presumption that almost all traffic makes a return journey across
4929-525: The early 2020s, the fiscal situation of the company declined considerably and backers proved to be unwilling to expend additional resources. Thus, in July 2021, the Darlington portion of the company went into administration in July 2021, owing £21m. After unsuccessful efforts to attract a buyer, the company was closed in September 2021. Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was founded in 1877 in Darlington with
5022-492: The existing bridge would be retained as a public transport link. The Forth Crossing Act received Royal Assent in January 2011, and the new bridge was opened in late 2017. On 1 February 2018, the Forth Road Bridge became a Public Transport Corridor, with all approach roads in full operation. The bridge was closed between September and mid October 2017 for roadworks before partially reopening for public buses. As of December 2020, work
5115-571: The failure of a few flawed strands in the hundreds used pose very little threat of failure, whereas a single bad link or eyebar can cause failure of an entire bridge. (The failure of a single eyebar was found to be the cause of the collapse of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River .) Another reason is that as spans increased, engineers were unable to lift larger chains into position, whereas wire strand cables can be formulated one by one in mid-air from
5208-480: The firm was reported to be on the brink of administration as a result of contract delays and negative economic consequences that were partially attributable to COVID-19 . Al Rushaid Group did not provide the requested resources; instead, FRP was appointed as the company's administrator and the business was put up for sale. Consequently, 51 workers were made redundant in August 2021. Around 25 staff continued to assist FRP, and 128 staff were furloughed under
5301-428: The first day, Richard Hornby, of engineering consulting firm Arup , stated that the truss end in question had been inspected 23 times since 2001, and no fault had been found. It was revealed that a pin had seized up, which caused the truss end to crack, and it was only the quality of the steel which had stopped its cracking appearing earlier. Hornby also made clear that even if the seized pin had been picked up earlier, it
5394-432: The highway, which may be supported by suspender cables or their own trusswork . In cases where trusswork supports the spans, there will be very little arc in the outboard main cables. The earliest suspension bridges were ropes slung across a chasm, with a deck possibly at the same level or hung below the ropes such that the rope had a catenary shape. The Tibetan siddha and bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo originated
5487-530: The live loads. In an underspanned suspension bridge, also called under-deck cable-stayed bridge, the main cables hang entirely below the bridge deck, but are still anchored into the ground in a similar way to the conventional type. Very few bridges of this nature have been built, as the deck is inherently less stable than when suspended below the cables. Examples include the Pont des Bergues of 1834 designed by Guillaume Henri Dufour ; James Smith's Micklewood Bridge; and
5580-457: The matter. One year later, the company became independent through a management buyout that involved a payment of $ 12.3 million. In addition to the UK-based operations, the same management team also acquired the company's Dubai subsidiary that had been established in 1978. Saudi Arabia's Al Rushaid Group provided finance to the firm which rose to an 88.5% stake by September 2002. Throughout
5673-628: The modern method was Joseph Chaley 's Grand Pont Suspendu in Fribourg , in 1834. In the United States, the first major wire-cable suspension bridge was the Wire Bridge at Fairmount in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by Charles Ellet Jr. and completed in 1842, it had a span of 109 m. Ellet's Niagara Falls suspension bridge (1847–48) was abandoned before completion. It was used as scaffolding for John A. Roebling 's double decker railroad and carriage bridge (1855). The Otto Beit Bridge (1938–1939)
SECTION 60
#17328441025255766-456: The near site stock yards. Litigation ensued and Cleveland Bridge was ultimately ordered to pay Multiplex £6,154,246.79 in respect of net earlier overpayments; breach of contract, and interest. Cleveland Bridge was also ordered to pay 20% of Multiplex's legal costs. It was claimed, in evidence, that some Wembley steelwork had been fabricated in China for Cleveland Bridge and that it had been diverted to
5859-438: The north side of the Forth, and Edinburgh Park Transport Exchange, across the bridge. The service has two members of staff onboard – for operational reasons and to comply with UK legislation, a safety driver is still present in the cab to monitor the technology, but they do not operate the vehicle other than in exceptional circumstances. A 'captain' takes tickets and answers questions. The service started on 15 May 2023 and runs on
5952-515: The passenger ferry service continued without interruption for over 800 years. There were proposals as early as the 1740s for a road crossing at the site, although its viability was only considered after the Forth Bridge was built in 1890. The importance of the crossing for vehicular traffic was underpinned when the Great Britain road numbering scheme was drawn up in the 1920s. The planners wished
6045-406: The pillars to deck-level supports, and further continue to connections with anchors in the ground. The roadway is supported by vertical suspender cables or rods, called hangers. In some circumstances, the towers may sit on a bluff or canyon edge where the road may proceed directly to the main span. Otherwise, the bridge will typically have two smaller spans, running between either pair of pillars and
6138-461: The plan, receiving criticism from the opposition Scottish National Party . There was a by-election on 9 February 2006 for Dunfermline and West Fife, the constituency in which the north end of the bridge is situated. It was contested (in addition to the major political parties in Scotland) by an Abolish Forth Bridge Tolls Party. Liberal Democrat candidate Willie Rennie won the election, overturning
6231-470: The proposals in January 2006, and the affair became a major political issue after UK Cabinet Ministers Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling ( Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Scotland respectively) were seen to describe the variable tolling plan as "dead in the water". Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell insisted his Labour Party colleagues were misquoted, and refused to rule out
6324-413: The railing and the walking layer of Gyalpo's bridges used wires. The stress points that carried the screed were reinforced by the iron chains. Before the use of iron chains it is thought that Gyalpo used ropes from twisted willows or yak skins. He may have also used tightly bound cloth. The Inca used rope bridges , documented as early as 1615. It is not known when they were first made. Queshuachaca
6417-592: The roadbed, particularly owing to the unfavorable effects of using plate girders, discovered from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) bridge collapse. In the 1960s, developments in bridge aerodynamics allowed the re-introduction of plate structures as shallow box girders , first seen on the Severn bridge , built 1961–1966. In the picture of the Yichang Bridge , note the very sharp entry edge and sloping undergirders in
6510-474: The structural wear of the bridge in the early years of the 21st century. The planned theoretical capacity for the bridge (30,000 vehicles per day in each direction) was routinely exceeded as traffic levels outstripped predictions. The Scottish Government stated in 2006 that 60,000 vehicles travelled on more than half the days in a year. This raised concerns about the lifespan of the bridge, originally planned at 120 years. In 2003, an inspection programme
6603-401: The suspension bridge shown. This enables this type of construction to be used without the danger of vortex shedding and consequent aeroelastic effects, such as those that destroyed the original Tacoma Narrows bridge. Three kinds of forces operate on any bridge: the dead load, the live load, and the dynamic load. Dead load refers to the weight of the bridge itself. Like any other structure,
6696-508: The ten bridges with the longest spans, followed by the length of the span and the year the bridge opened for traffic: (Chronological) Broughton Suspension Bridge (England) was an iron chain bridge built in 1826. One of Europe's first suspension bridges, it collapsed in 1831 due to mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step. As a result of the incident, the British Army issued an order that troops should "break step" when crossing
6789-489: The towers. In cable-stayed bridges, the towers are the primary load-bearing structures that transmit the bridge loads to the ground. A cantilever approach is often used to support the bridge deck near the towers, but lengths further from them are supported by cables running directly to the towers. By design, all static horizontal forces of the cable-stayed bridge are balanced so that the supporting towers do not tend to tilt or slide and so must only resist horizontal forces from
6882-519: The transfer of bridge management to a private company. The strategic transport importance of the road bridge and the threat of closure by 2020 if major structural work were not undertaken led to fears of serious economic consequences. Increasing traffic levels across the Firth of Forth had also led to the construction of the Clackmannanshire Bridge adjacent to the existing Kincardine Bridge . This bridge opened in November 2008. Proposals for
6975-607: The upsurge in demand for a road crossing between Edinburgh and Fife prompted the UK Government to establish the Forth Road Bridge Joint Board (FRBJB) by Act of Parliament in 1947 to oversee the implementation of a new bridge to replace the ferry service. The authorities on both sides investigated in 1955, and drew up an alternative scheme for a tunnel beneath the estuary. This was known as the Maunsell Scheme, and
7068-554: The use of iron chains in his version of simple suspension bridges . In 1433, Gyalpo built eight bridges in eastern Bhutan . The last surviving chain-linked bridge of Gyalpo's was the Thangtong Gyalpo Bridge in Duksum en route to Trashi Yangtse , which was finally washed away in 2004. Gyalpo's iron chain bridges did not include a suspended-deck bridge , which is the standard on all modern suspension bridges today. Instead, both
7161-423: The weight of the cables is small compared to the weight of the deck. One can see the shape from the constant increase of the gradient of the cable with linear (deck) distance, this increase in gradient at each connection with the deck providing a net upward support force. Combined with the relatively simple constraints placed upon the actual deck, that makes the suspension bridge much simpler to design and analyze than
7254-640: The worst-case scenario, followed by full closure by 2020. An acoustic monitoring system was commissioned in August 2006, using listening devices to monitor any further strands snapping and pinpoint their location within the main cables. In January 2006, the Scottish Executive completed a third-party audit on the bridge which concluded that FETA had performed the initial internal inspection and cable strength calculation in accordance with accepted practice. The report suggested that traffic restrictions could be required by 2013. Several actions were taken to increase
7347-1032: Was a very high incidence of poor workmanship in the steelwork Cleveland Bridge delivered. Cleveland Bridge's own internal correspondence highlighted an extraordinary work overload in 2010, and Judge Akenhead concluded it had taken on more work than it had capacity. In 2002, the company won a £60 million steelwork contract for the bowl of New Wembley Stadium . Part way through construction, relationships between main contractor Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge broke down. Multiplex stripped Cleveland Bridge of their erection role, handing it to roof steelwork contractor Hollandia. Two hundred of Cleveland Bridge's on site erection staff and subcontractors transferred to Hollandia and were sacked after going on strike . The situation escalated when Cleveland Bridge unilaterally repudiated its remaining stadium fabrication contract. Both sides blamed each other for extra costs; delays; poor workmanship; missing or incorrect steelwork; damaged, missing or incorrect paintwork; chaotic record-keeping; and
7440-433: Was "virtually impossible" to lubricate the bearing. Several witnesses defended a decision by previous operator FETA not to proceed with a £15 million truss end link replacement project in 2010. This was disputed by Barry Colford, former chief engineer and bridgemaster at FETA. Lesley Hinds, FETA's former convener, pointed out that the bridge budget had been cut by 58% in 2011, while senior staff at FETA had "deep concerns" about
7533-418: Was awarded Historic Scotland 's Category A listed structure status in 2001. On 11 February 2008, tolls were abolished on the bridge by The Scottish Government. Initially, it was suggested that tolls would cease once the original cost of construction (plus accrued interest ) was repaid. This was achieved in 1993, and it was planned that tolls would not be levied after May 1995. Instead, legislation enabling
7626-643: Was built between 1829 and 1832, replacing a wooden bridge further downstream which collapsed in 1828. It is the only suspension bridge across the non-tidal Thames. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge , (designed in 1840, opened in 1849), spanning the River Danube in Budapest, was also designed by William Clark and it is a larger-scale version of Marlow Bridge. An interesting variation is Thornewill and Warham 's Ferry Bridge in Burton-on-Trent , Staffordshire (1889), where
7719-577: Was delegated to the FRBJB, and remained so until 2002 when its operation was transferred to a new body with a wider remit, the Forth Estuary Transport Authority . On 1 December 2010, the bridge was closed for the first time due to heavy snow. After several accidents meant snowploughs were unable to clear the carriageways, the bridge was closed in both directions at 6.40 a.m. and remained closed for several hours. As part of celebrations of
7812-464: Was established in 1978, fabricated and erected steel structures for, amongst other projects, the Burj Al Arab and Emirates Towers . During 1967, the company was acquired by The Cementation Company , which was itself bought by Trafalgar House soon thereafter. During 1990, it was merged with Redpath Dorman Long, another subsidiary owned by Trafalgar, to create Cleveland Structural Engineering. After
7905-587: Was fined £1.5 million by the Health and Safety Executive , with a further cost judgement of £29,000 against them. An inadequately secured crane access panel gave way in a 2016 fatal fall. The fine related to four breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 leading to the death. FRP Advisory stated it was unlikely the fine or costs could be paid. In 2013, Cleveland Bridge was ordered to pay Severfield-Rowen plc £824,478 compensation for delays to their subcontracted work on The Shard . The judge accepted there
7998-502: Was hollow) and had hydraulic rams jack up these sections to transfer a portion of the load to the new steelwork. Also, the vertical cables suspending the deck had their bolts replaced after a detected failure. A new paint system required development for the bridge (the original was phased out due to environmental concerns). In late-2005, FETA's committee approved a proposed revamp of the tolls. The minimum toll would stay fixed at £1, but higher tolls would be charged at some times of day, with
8091-427: Was launched (costing £1.2 million) to assess the condition of the main suspension cables after corrosion was discovered in a number of older bridges in the United States of a similar design and size. The study was completed two years later and reported that the main cables had suffered an 8%–10% loss of strength. This weakening was projected to accelerate, with traffic restrictions to limit loading required in 2014 in
8184-517: Was projected to run somewhat closer to the rail bridge than the present road bridge. The scheme was abandoned as too ambitious, and a bridge was built instead. The final construction plan was accepted in February 1958 and work began that September. Mott, Hay and Anderson and Freeman Fox & Partners carried out the design work and a joint venture of Sir William Arrol & Co. , Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and Dorman Long constructed
8277-489: Was renamed Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge following acquisition of Trafalgar House by Kværner in 1996. During 1999, it was reported that Kværner intended to sell the business amid a wider restructuring away from heavy manufacturing activities; at the time, the company employed roughly 600 staff following a series of job losses. Despite appeals for financial assistance being made to the British government, it refused to intervene in
8370-433: Was subsequently closed for repairs and refurbishment. It reopened in February 2018, now redesignated as a dedicated Public Transport Corridor, with access to motor vehicles other than buses and taxis restricted; pedestrians and cyclists are still permitted to use the bridge. In May 2023, Stagecoach Fife started the first driverless bus service to carry passengers in the United Kingdom along a park-and-ride route which includes
8463-404: Was the first modern suspension bridge outside the United States built with parallel wire cables. Two towers/pillars, two suspension cables, four suspension cable anchors, multiple suspender cables, the bridge deck. The main cables of a suspension bridge will form a catenary when hanging under their own weight only. When supporting the deck, the cables will instead form a parabola , assuming
8556-577: Was the longest suspension bridge span outside the United States and the fourth-longest span in the world at the time of its construction. The bridge is made of 39,000 tonnes of steel and 115,000 cubic metres of concrete . The towers reach 156 metres (512 ft) above mean water level. There is a dual carriageway road with two lanes in each direction, and cycle/footpaths on each side. The main strung cables are 590 millimetres (23 in) in diameter, with 11,618 high tensile wires, each five millimetres in diameter, and each cable carries 13,800 tonnes of
8649-411: Was underway that would allow the Forth Road Bridge to become an emergency diversion route for private transport. The Queensferry Crossing has proofing that makes it less vulnerable to high winds than the Forth Road Bridge, but it was closed for the first time in February 2020 due to accumulations of ice on its towers. On 22 November 2018, it was announced that £4.35 million of funding had been secured for
#524475