Clackmannanshire Bridge

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Clackmannanshire Bridge
Official name	Clackmannanshire Bridge, Scotland
Carries	Motor vehicles (A876 road) Cyclists (National Cycle Route 1) Pedestrians
Crosses	Firth of Forth
Maintained by	Forth Estuary Transport Authority
Design	Suspension bridge
Width	250
Opened	19 November 2008

The Clackmannanshire Bridge is a road bridge over the Firth of Forth in Scotland which opened to traffic on Wednesday 19 November 2008. Prior to 1 October 2008 the bridge was referred to as the upper Forth crossing while the much disputed name was chosen.^[1]

Cost to build: £120 million ^[2]
Opened to traffic on: 19 November 2008
Officially opened by: First Minister Alex Salmond
Estimated vehicles: 20,000 per day
Construction by: Morgan Vinci

Additional Details: ^[3]
1.2 km in length
3 Lanes of traffic

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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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[4] 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.^[5] The Scottish Government intimated that a decision would be made in late 2008 (and was subsequently announced on 1 October).^[6]

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. ^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Upper Forth Crossing website
• Drive to name road bridge locally - BBC website
• Benaim - Bridge Designer

Coordinates: 56°04′09″N 3°44′04″W / 56.06917°N 3.73444°W / 56.06917; -3.73444