SINCE opening in 1964 the Forth Road Bridge has grown to become one of the country’s most important transport links with the crossing now carrying over two million vehicles a day.
It spans the Firth of Forth, connecting Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry and at a total length of 2,512 metres, it was the longest suspension bridge span outside the United States and the fourth-longest span in the world at the time of its construction.
The crossing is made up of a dual carriageway road with two lanes in each direction bordered by footpaths on each side.
Proposals for a second crossing at Queensferry were first mooted in the 1990s, but it was not until structural issues with the bridge were discovered in 2005 that momentum for a new bridge gathered pace.
The decision to proceed with a replacement bridge was taken at the end of 2007, although the following year it was announced that the existing bridge would be retained as a public transport link.
Construction began in September 2011. The Forth Replacement Crossing will be a cable-stayed bridge, with an overall length of 1.7 mile.