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[Varche]

That is quite a shock. Only fifty years old and knackered due to traffic levels and weight. Shame we didn't have Victorian engineers building it.
Bit of polyfiller and some cable ties though and it can reopen in the New year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35001277

It reminds me of the M69. It had only been open a few years and they had to resurface it. Their signs said "Sorry for the delays. Resurfacing due to carriageway worn out". I said at the time , I wonder if the government got the contractor to do the resurfing for free?

[Andy B]

Agreed. If only IK Brunnel could have built it. 

I know it's un-nerving when the weather is bad and as you drive over it you can see it swaying!!! 

[Kevin Wood]

Sounds like we need to send Marks DTM up there. He might need a bigger welder, mind.

[henryd]

Sounds like we need to send Marks DTM up there. He might need a bigger welder, mind.

Gasless mig if its outdoors

[Entwood]

Lets be fair .. it was designed to carry 30,000 vehicles a day MAXIMUM .. it now carries over 60,000 on more than half the days a year ... so working at well over twice its designed capacity .. is it a wonder it is getting problems ??

One could say it has done exceedingly well to last this long given that information ... how long would your miggy last if oil changes and cam-belts were only done at twice the recommended interval .. methinks we know the answers to that question !

[Varche]

I have to take issue you with you there. Bridges and other structures aren't just thrown up, they are designed and one of the factors is load and traffic levels. Then there would have been a margin for error.

So either the brief was wrong or the powers that be have been taking risks allowing far more vehicles and heavier vehicles to cross. If it had collapsed before someone spotted the failure would anyone have gone to prison for recklessly risking lives every day?

Time to build a further bridge or tunnel methinks.

Just a thought. There is a Roman bridge 40 miles from me that carries vehicles everyday. I bet the Romans never thought there would be 38 ton lorries capable of 70mph when they designed it.

PS surely a bridge has to be designed to be able to stay up in the unlikely event of mixed stationary traffic in both directions? Could happen with a terrorist action.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Wee Nicola Crankie will be putting the blame firmly at the door of the Tory UK Government and it's austerity policies!   

[hotel21]

It is causing absolute frekking mayhem up here. Rail company are only grudgingly putting extra carriages on trains and few additional trains due to busy schedule. Roads infrastructure is so used to bridge that it's a quantum leap to put all that traffic back through small villages.

New bridge already open to supplement the Kincardine bridge which is upriver. Replacement Forth crossing already being built with plan to remove heavies etc from the Forth bridge as it was already known that the supporting wires were unexpectedly snapping more than originally planned.

Also tLking about reinstigating the ferry!!

[Andy B]

....

Also tLking about reinstigating the ferry!!

I heard that earlier. I wonder what the residents of North & South Queensferry would have to say 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Yup, it's a concern my part of the world, with the wonderful Humber Bridge, as the two bridges are very very similar in design, the Forth Bridge being a little older, both have been snapping steadily for years. 

With the Old Clifton Suspension bridge being supported by chains, I do wonder were a derivative of this used on the Forth / Humber, and not not wire, any such failure would be as simple a repair as 'ooh, a chain's snapped. Right... install a new link, then'

Sadly the miles and miles of single cable which zig-zag from one end to the other and back again, like a huge skein of wool isn't very easy to just replace.  I've thought about it for years, and can't conceive of any repair procedure that wouldn't dwarf the cost of just building a new bridge.

much maligning is directed toward the bridge closure, but as said, this is a precautionary measure for a bridge which, with proper care, could last many more years yet, it's carried far, far more traffic that was anticipated. 

Also look up the Tay Bridge Disaster for the forgotten side of Victorian Engineering. 

[05omegav6]

The Tay Bridge collapsed due to fatigue failure caused by a series of violent storms... The bridge would still be there today if the supports had been more robust...

At least there are alternatives to the Forth Bridge... It's a fair trek around the firth without any crossings... And whilst it's easy to mock the ferry option, it's not an unreasonable one

And before anyone says rough weather, remember that the bridge is quite often closed to all but cars due to the wind

[hotel21]

The ferry option is not impossible, certainly from the Fife side as a ro-ro ferry ran to zeebrugge for a number of years. It's the Edinburgh side that's difficult as there is no suitable landing as such for the wagons now running the roads.

Big change between the 40+ tonners of today with 'heavies' of the 50's! 

[Olympia5776]

Brings back memories .
I worked for Fisher Rosemount back in the early eighties and recall visiting a place in Port Seaton ( I think )  Edinburgh where they tested ( and possibly twined too ) the steel cables for the FRB .
We calibrated the strain gauge system that measured the break point of the cables that were regularly sample tested to destruction both pre and post service . I was, at that point ,seconded to another older engineer who was due for retirement . Now John , who bore an uncanny resemblance to Clark Gable , had seen service in tanks during WW2 and had been shot at ,rocketed ,bombed & blown up by 88's on numerous occasions and was always completely unmoved when the cable under calibration test went BANG in a big fukcin' way whilst I was head down in the corner of the armoured test booth shaking with a sphincter tighter than a buntline hitch.

I drove over that bridge several times a week for nigh on twenty years and am not in the least surprised at it being closed for unforeseen repairs .It was never designed to cope with the amount of daily traffic it took , even then.
She's a grand old Lady though and will outlive all of us .

[GastronomicKleptomaniac]

....

Also tLking about reinstigating the ferry!!

I heard that earlier. I wonder what the residents of North & South Queensferry would have to say 

There's a bloody lush Chinese in South Queensferry.

[Andy H]

Forth road bridge opened 1964

The Tamar bridge (that drive over twice a day) opened 1961. Should I worry