Traffic is returning to the Forth Road Bridge amid fears for the future of Scotland’s road haulage industry.
Cars returned to the crossing from 6am following the surprise announcement that temporary repairs to the stricken structure had been completed a fortnight earlier than expected.
Here's some of the first traffic crossing the bridge this morning: pic.twitter.com/rXMY2MNxlZ
— Forth Road Bridge (@forthroadbridge) December 23, 2015
However, as commuters and businesses celebrated, the news was greeted with dismay by hauliers as restrictions for HGV’s were extended until at least the middle of February.
With fuel costs escalating and operating margins getting slimmer, industry leaders have called for working restrictions to be relaxed and compensation to be paid to companies, warning the Scottish Government that a failure to do so will see firms fold.
Eric Byiers, chief executive of Fife Chamber of Commerce, said thathaving been led to believe the bridge would be fully open by January 4, it was “clearly disappointing” to have only a partial re-opening with HGVs now unable to cross until mid-February.
“When we spoke to our members, they told us that the disruption was affecting them in two main ways in the immediate term: travel to and from work for their workforce and the supply and delivery of goods.
“The announcement will bring welcome relief for people getting to and from work and will help LGV deliveries, for example, but the news that HGVs will not be able to use the bridge until mid- February remains a problem for some businesses,” he said.
The bridge is to re-open as temporary repairs, including the installation of a steel splint on the cracked truss end link, have been completed.
The damaged area has been load tested. Results show the 51-year-old bridge can now open to all traffic except HGVs which account for 32% of the weight the bridge normally carries despite making up only 9% of overall traffic and abnormal loads.
Independent engineering experts agreed with operating company Amey’s assessment that loading the bridge with HGVs could result in stress to the truss end link and agreed the best way to mitigate against the risk was to ban HGVs until a permanent repair was made.
This will take around six weeks,subject to good weather and no more defects being found.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said he was pleased the bridge would reopen to 90% of traffic well ahead of schedule.
Paying tribute to the workers, he said: “For the complex and detailed interim repair to have been completed in this timeframe is a tribute to the highly skilled and dedicated staff who have worked 24/7 since December 3.”
As well as the interim repair, splints are being installed on the other seven truss end links as a precaution.
This work has been carried out on four, with the remainder due to becomplete by the end of the month.
The closure has also seen a health MOT on the bridge, with a “painstaking” inspection, which is now 90% complete. No material defects have been found.
Chartered engineer Mark Arndt, Amey’s account director responsible for the bridge, said: “Public safety has been at the heart of everything we’ve been doing.”
ScotRail will continue an extra 5.52am Fife train given its popularity for as long as there is demand.