MSPs to probe £2bn cost of new road bridge over Forth

TWO Scottish Parliament committees are to investigate why the new Forth crossing will be one of the world's most expensive bridges.

Both the transport and finance committees are to look at how Transport Scotland have calculated the cost at around £2 billion

Transport committee convener Patrick Harvie said he is "immensely sceptical" about the price tag put on the project.

Edinburgh's transport leader Gordon Mackenzie today welcomed plans to scrutinise the cost further but said he has no "undue concern" about the current cost.

The former UK Conservative Government proposed a bridge across the Forth with similar traffic capacity in the mid 1990s that would have cost £300 million.

But Transport Scotland's cost estimates suggest that the project will now cost nearly eight times that amount – between £1.7bn and £2.3bn.

Mr Harvie, who is a Scottish Green Party MSP, said: "I am immensely sceptical about Transport Scotland's figures. I don't recall a single cost estimate they have made that has turned out to be correct."

He claimed that the system used by the agency for calculating the "optimism bias" – or insurance against its own failure to cost the project correctly – was "as accurate as sticking your finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing".

David Whitton, a Labour member of the finance committee, also said that ministers will be required to come before the committee and face "close questions" about the costs. He said: "We don't know why it costs as much when compared to similar structures, and there is no clear explanation so far as to why it should be two or three times more than other bridges."

The £1.7bn-£2.3bn bill for the project consists of £777m of construction costs, a £1.14bn "uplift" for the cost of capital used for the project and inflation over the course of the five-and-a-half year project. A £95m "risk allowance" is also added, alongside a £178m "optimism bias".

A recent study showed that the average cost of major road bridges around the world was less than £200,000 a metre. The new Forth Road Bridge is priced at around £750,000 a metre – one of the world's most expensive bridge projects.

The city council has previously said that plans for the new crossing should be put off until 2011, when it will be known whether dehumidification work on the existing bridge has successfully extended its lifespan.

Today, Councillor Mackenzie welcomed news of the two committee's plans to further scrutinise costs.

He said: "Obviously any major infrastructure project has to be well-governed and the costs scrutinised before you embark on the project. That happened with the tram project and I'm sure it will happen with the Forth Bridge. There is nothing wrong with that; it is good governance to do that.

"I'm sure the parliament will have a close look to ensure that it is best value for money and that all the costs that are included are known about."

He also shrugged off analysis that showed the new crossing could be one of the world's most expensive bridges, pointing out that the costs include infrastructure works around the bridge.

He added: "As time goes on and standards go up, costs do go up. I wouldn't read anything into that either. It bears further scrutiny but I don't think that (price] is something that gives me undue concern. If we have a second bridge, the important thing is that we get it right."

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: "The requirements of the bridge mean it will feature large spans, significantly larger than other comparable structures, which have to be constructed in a marine environment across important shipping lanes.

"These and other important factors – such as inflation, land costs and the amount of new connecting roads – all contribute to the cost, making superficial comparisons with other bridges misleading."