HGVs making limited return to Forth Road Bridge
The phased reintroduction of heavy goods vehicles on to the Forth Road Bridge will begin from Thursday, but it is not scheduled to fully reopen to HGVs with no restrictions until mid-March.
The phased reintroduction of heavy goods vehicles on to the Forth Road Bridge will begin from Thursday, but it is not scheduled to fully reopen to HGVs with no restrictions until mid-March.
HGVs have been banned from the bridge since it was shut down in December following the discovery of a defect.
While the structure was reopened for cars on December 23, after almost three weeks of closure, it remained closed to lorries until a permanent repair was put in place.
The bridge's operator said at the time that it estimated HGVs would be allowed back by mid-February.
Structural monitoring installed at the truss end links of the bridge show it can now allow a limited number of HGVs to cross - up to around 600 northbound between 11pm and 4am nightly, starting from February 4, and subject to weather conditions.
The structural monitoring systems provide live data on the behaviour of the bridge.
The information has shown that the second phase of the repair work needs to be completed in full before the bridge can fully reopen to HGVs.
The impact of high wind and wet weather has limited opportunities to carry out these repairs.
Preventative works are also required at two other locations, operators said.
Relaxing the current restrictions during the night is aimed at mitigating the impact of the closure without causing over-stressing of the structure.
A dedicated HGV lane and stacking area'' will help manage the traffic flow across the bridge, while traffic signals will release the vehicles on to the bridge at a rate of one every 30 seconds.
The behaviour of the structure will be monitored throughout the process, to determine whether the number of HGVs being allowed to cross can be increased.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: This is a phased reintroduction of HGVs to the Forth Road Bridge which aims to provide access to the bridge at the earliest available opportunity.
Allowing limited access to the bridge when traffic is lighter will hopefully provide some relief to local hauliers while repair work continues.''
He added: The information from the monitoring equipment is providing a detailed picture of how the bridge is behaving to inform our decision-making and modelling.
We will not take any decision which could risk damaging the bridge or compromising safety, so we have taken the decision to push back the reopening of the bridge to HGVs to allow time for phase two of the repair work to be complete, with additional time added as contingency due to the effects of the weather.
The expert engineering advice we have received indicates that with phase two of the works complete, the bridge will have sufficient strength to cope with normal loading of HGVs alongside other traffic.
Every effort is being made to carry out the repair work as quickly as is possible. When the phase two strengthening works are complete, the bridge will reopen to HGVs with no restrictions.''