THE new £4.2 billion bridge over the Forth could be a double-decker, with cars and lorries using an upper level and trams and buses below, it was reported today.
The project team has drawn up three preliminary designs for the new crossing, with work expected to start in 2011.
One option would see cars and lorries using an upper deck while buses and trams would travel on the lower one.
Representatives fr
om Arup-Jacob – the engineering consultants awarded the task of carrying out the preparation work – have begun conducting land surveys in the area surrounding the new road bridge.
The cable-stayed bridge would have three towers, and is likely to be the biggest of its kind in the world, at about 2.2 km long.
The exact position for the new crossing has not yet been chosen, but the centre tower would be on Beamer Rock, halfway across the Forth. The two other options are single decks, with buses and trams travelling in dedicated central lanes. Other traffic would follow a dual carriageway on the outside of the three towers.
The project was approved in December because of fears over the state of the Forth Road Bridge. Corrosion of its cables means it may have to close to lorries in five years, and to all traffic in 2019.
Feasibility studies are due to be completed by the summer, with designs being developed early next year. The bridge is expected to be completed by 2016.
The full article contains 256 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
