Cost to build: £120 million
:Opened to traffic: 28 November 2008
Estimated vehicles: 20,000 per day
1.2 km in length 3 Lanes of traffic
The increasing levels of traffic using the existing Kincardine
Bridge led to a public inquiry being held into options to ease
traffic flow over the Forth and around the small town of
Kincardine.
In 2000 proposals were put forward for a number of alternatives,
one of which was a new crossing running north-northwest of the
existing bridge, bypassing the town of Kincardine altogether.
In 2005 the new crossing was given the go-ahead, and
construction began in June 2006, with the sod-cutting ceremony
performed by the Scottish Transport Minister, Tavish Scott,
accompanied by the Earl of Elgin who as a boy had performed the
ceremony for the Kincardine Bridge.
The bridge deck is 1.2 km long, weighs 35,000 tonnes and sits on
25 piers which are each filled with 840 tonnes of concrete.
The bridge is anomalous in that it is positioned in an area
where three local council boundaries converge. The north approach
to the bridge is within Clackmannanshire council area up until the
point where the bridge leaves the north river bank, the span of the
bridge suspended above the Forth is within Fife council area and
the south approach to the bridge within Falkirk council area. This
means that the span of the bridge is within Fife however it can
only be accessed by travelling through either Clackmannanshire or
Falkirk Council areas. Due to this unique situation a minor row
broke out between those local authorities with a vested
interest.
Clackmannanshire Council voted to suggest "Clackmannanshire
Bridge" - even though two other councils, Fife and Falkirk, are
involved and no part of the bridge would be inside the
Clackmannanshire area. Fife Council responded with "Kingdom Bridge"
(referring to the historic kingdom of Fife). Other suggestions
included "Wallace Bridge" after Sir William Wallace.
The Scottish Government intimated that a decision would be made
in late 2008 (and was subsequently announced on 1 October). At the
official opening of the bridge on 28 November, First Minister Alex
Salmond said: This is a world-class infrastructure project which
will cut journey times, improve central Scotland connections, and
provide a unique gateway to Clackmannanshire, Fife and Falkirk.
The final cost of the project is £120 million and it is expected
that about 20,000 vehicles a day will use the crossing.
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