Opening of new Queensferry Crossing delayed until August
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The opening of the new Queensferry Crossing has been pushed back for the second time and could be delayed until the end of August.
Scottish Economy Secretary Keith Brown told MSPs the latest delay to the flagship £1.35 billion bridge was due to the impact of bad weather conditions, and contractors are "now advising that the opening to traffic date is more likely to be between mid-July and the end of August''.
Engineers had hoped the 1.7-mile link across the Forth would open last December, but that was revised until the end of May due to poor weather hitting construction.
Giving evidence at Holyrood's Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, Mr Brown said: "To put that into context, that's around four to 10-week delay on a six-year construction programme.
He said the impact of bad weather, particularly high winds, had caused slippage in the programme and a review found the project could now not be completed by the revised May date even if there were no weather cancellations.
"The precise opening date will depend on the amount of weather downtime which occurs in the coming weeks, with the latest date being based on weather similar to that which we have seen in February and March.''
He said the delays caused weather-dependent work to "bunch together'' and become interdependent instead of sequential.
The Queensferry Crossing will replace the Forth Road Bridge.