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Sunday, 6th December 2009

Twin bids to delay new Forth bridge voted down

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Published Date: 23 September 2009
By David Maddox
THE new Forth road bridge remains on track to be completed by 2016 after two attempts to delay it were rejected.
The £2 billion project needs to be in place by 2016 due to fears that the existing road bridge will no longer be fit for purpose for heavy goods vehicles by then.

The way was opened up for the new bridge to continue after MSPs on Holyrood's finan
ce committee yesterday agreed to support a payback scheme for tenderers bidding for the project.

Meanwhile, the City of Edinburgh Council's transport committee voted by 14 to two to end its demands that the bridge should be delayed so that other public transport projects could be prioritised.

MSPs rejected a suggestion by Labour's Jackie Baillie that the process be put off for three months. Ms Baillie was questioning the need for a contingent liability, which could see a successful tenderer paid back up to £10 million and unsuccessful tenderers receiving £5m should the bridge fail to go ahead.

She suggested that a delay to allow necessary legislation through would mean that the payback scheme would not be required.

But transport minister Stewart Stevenson said that the bridge was on a tight schedule, with "very little slack in the process". He said the payback scheme was necessary to provide reassurance for bidders.

Mr Stevenson had been called to the committee to explain the scheme after MSPs had been unhappy with the explanations given by civil servants last week.





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  • Last Updated: 22 September 2009 9:31 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Forth Bridges
 
1

truthsleuth,

23/09/2009 00:31:37
The £2 billion project needs to be in place by 2016 due to fears that the existing road bridge will no longer be fit for purpose for heavy goods vehicles by then.

'be fit for purpose for heavy goods vehicles'

The final admission that the new bridge is being built by the taxpayer and ratepayer to meet the needs of the heavy lorry operators THESE are the people that caused the damage to the old bridge. They have been subsidised by the rest of us for years and now having got the silly motorists to campaign for the removal of tolls on the old bridge that they destroyed they are to have a new bridge built for them to carry 80tonne vehicles.

One wonders just when you motorists will wake up.

They push you off the roads they hold you up they damage the roads and yet Alex and his Tartan Army STILL favour them.

I wonder why?
2

truthsleuth,

23/09/2009 00:33:33
Whats the latest estimate for its cost £3billion have the costs of updating the road system been icluded??
3

truthsleuth,

23/09/2009 00:35:37
Whats the latest estimate for its cost £3billion have the costs of updating the road system been icluded??

With the higher interest rates now applying it has to cost more
4

truthsleuth,

23/09/2009 00:37:20
Whats the latest estimate for its cost £3billion have the costs of updating the road system been icluded??

Interest rates have at least doubled since the last cost estimate.
5

Tynietiger,

23/09/2009 08:11:42
The sidebar headline "2000 nuts that hold up Forth road bridge" applies to truthsleuth
6

Proud2Be,

Perth 23/09/2009 09:46:41
truthslueth - In relation to your comment at #1 I would suggest you look at who wrote this article.

Bear in mind that if text is not in quotation marks it is not meant to be a quote and therefore is the creation of the author.

Since this article was written by half wit, half true Maddox you will be very lucky if anything outside the quotation marks is true! Indeed you will be even luckier if the stuff in quotation marks has been accurately represented.

It is worth remembering that the hootsman has degenerated into the grown man's beano and most of its readers only peruse it for comedy value!!
7

ppink,

23/09/2009 11:32:41
Since the Union closed off trade from the Baltic and Europe by siphoning it through London and other English ports, Edinburgh has lost it's right to be the Scots Capital.

Same with Glasgow since the demise of the Tobacco trade and shipbuilding and other peripheral activities.

Because of oil and fishing and farming, Aberdeen should have been the new capital of Scotland but it is geographically inconvenient;as is Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The strongest contender today is Stirling, if an international airport and fast rail & road link to other regions of Scotland was established.

The two Forth bridges are an embarrassment - build a tunnel if you have to link Fife with Edinburgh.

Better still get a new modern capital.







8

Albawolf,

St Andrews 23/09/2009 11:47:20
Once again we see that the North of the country can goto hell in a basket eh....

The A9 stopped from been dual at birth is passed over AGAIN...
The A96 and the A82 are just, joke roads....

There is already a bridge here
The case that it is falling down is unproven...
Massively unproven

The Edinburgh Tramway is behind schedule and over budget (well you can expect that in Follyrood projects...)
But more money will be found for this before the North of the country gets real investment....

When the cut backs come
Guess what will be cut
Cut again...

The Glasgow party have a massive case to answer here
There refusal to put the A9 dualing at top of list is clear evidence of this...

Overseas aid is protected
NHS waste is protected...

But real investment in the north is denied at every turn...

This is the leason from the politically correct who claim
To give racism the Red Card...
Some claim that...

No end in sight...

Yet one day Scotland will get a real government committed to fair and balanced investment in ALL the country
One day....

But not today
To the shame of Follyrood....


9

truthsleuth,

21/11/2009 01:30:19
#5 Tynietiger

Tiny brain and is probably heading for extinction

 

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Today's Vote

Would you support the return of tolls to fund a new Forth Road Bridge?
No, it should be paid for in the same way as other roads.
Yes, it’s fairer for users to bear the brunt of the cost.
Yes, as long as it was only for a fixed amount of time.

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