Forth Road Bridge closure: Repair plan revealed
Engineers
working on the Forth Road Bridge have revealed how they plan to fix the
section which cracked forcing the road to close until the new year.
It involves a "plate welded repair" around the truss which failed.
An access platform is being built around the broken section which is in a part of the bridge which is difficult to reach.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that the "absolute intention" was to reopen the bridge to all vehicles.
Operator Amey also said it still hoped to have the bridge open again by the end of the month.
The
detailed plans to fix the problem have now been finalised, checked and
verified by two independent specialist engineering firms.
The temporary repair will involve the shear truss end having metal splints attached to either side of it.
The platform will permit teams of welders to work day and night, when weather conditions allow.
Mark
Arndt, Amey's account director responsible for the bridge, said: "Our
teams have been working 24/7 since the defect was identified a little
over a week ago.
"Our design teams have finalised the detailed
solution plan, the access platform is under construction and we've
mobilised all the resources we need to begin the repair works."
However, he added: "Progress of the repair work is vulnerable to weather conditions.
"Wind
speeds at times make it unsafe for our people to continue, but by
having our personnel on standby at the bridge and by monitoring live
wind-speed data in our control room we're able to get straight back out
to work on the repairs in every available window and our programme
remains on schedule for completion in the new year."In addition to repairing the defect, Amey is taking
preventative action on another seven similar locations on the bridge to
prevent any issues from occurring. Structural monitoring systems are
also being installed at these locations.
The bridge repairs and controversy over maintenance work in recent years were the subject of a heated debate at first minister's questions.
After
Conservative leader Ruth Davidson called for a guarantee that the
bridge would reopen to all vehicles, Ms Sturgeon said that was the
government's "absolute intention".
She said: "The absolute
intention of this government is to have the bridge open for people
returning to work in the new year, and for that to be a case of the
bridge being open as normal, to all vehicles that previously travelled
over the bridge.
"Particularly at this time of year, work to a
structure like the Forth Road Bridge is heavily weather-dependent, but
when I last spoke to the senior engineer yesterday the update I was
given was that it was on track. We are closely monitoring the
situation."
Labour
leader Kezia Dugdale criticised the government for "putting off
essential work in hope of saving some money", saying maintenance budgets
had been "slashed" by 65%.
She produced minutes from the old
Forth Estuary Transport Authority which showed reductions in capital
spending following the Scottish government's 2013 spending review,
causing projects including work to the truss-end links, now damaged, to
be deferred.
She said: "That key work was delayed because of SNP
government cuts. Short-term decisions made at the expense of the
long-term future of an important national asset. Instead of constantly
trying to avoid the blame, when will this government accept some
responsibility?"
Ms Sturgeon hit back, saying the Scottish
government could not be criticised for "penny-pinching" when it had
taken forward the new £1.4bn Queensferry Crossing.
"This is the
government that decided to invest in a new Forth replacement crossing -
hardly the hallmark of a government that was trying to save money," she
said.
The first minister also underlined that the area where the
crack in the bridge had appeared was not in need of repair in 2010,
saying the government had not had "a crystal ball" five years ago.
She
added: "Can I state the absolute determination of me and this
government to do everything that we possibly can to minimise disruption,
and even more importantly to get the Forth Road Bridge open again as
quickly as possible."