Queensferry Crossing

A crossing route over the Forth had existed at the site since the 11th century, when the Queen of Scotland, Margaret, founded a free ferry to take pilgrims north to St Andrews. The site of the ferry crossing became the location of the Forth Road Bridge, which opened on 4 September 1964. Proposals for an additional road crossing at Queensferry were drawn up in the early-1990s, as part of the "Setting Forth" consultation document prepared by the Scottish Office. The plans met stiff opposition from environmentalists and from the City of Edinburgh Council on the grounds of increased traffic. Following the Labour victory at the 1997 general election, the proposals were shelved. The existing…

Preparatory works for the new bridge began in September 2011 with works beginning at the southern end of the M90 to build the northern approach roads. 149 segments of bridge deck, each of which is 12 m long and 40 m wide, were constructed in China and Spain, then delivered by sea in October 2013. The approach steel bridge sections were manufactured by Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company in Darlington. The towers reached 160 m in height in August 2015, making it the UK's tallest bridge. The completed towers stand at 207 m. The bridge was due to be completed by December 2016, but that date was put back to May 2017 due to weather delays slowing construction, with 25 days lost due to high…

The bridge is a cable-stayed structure, with three towers each 207 m high. The bridge carries motorcycles, cars and heavy goods vehicles, while public transport, cyclists and pedestrians use the Forth Road Bridge. Wind shielding has been built into the design, to enable use of the bridge in high winds, which often led to restrictions on the old bridge. The bridge was closed for the first time on 11 February 2020, 30 months after opening, due to accumulations of ice on the towers. The bridge is the third crossing of the Forth at Queensferry, alongside the Forth Road Bridge, completed in 1964, and the Forth Bridge, a railway bridge completed in 1890. It is sited west of the road bridge, with…