Stunning ..but how Scottish is nation’s new icon?
A CRITIC has poured scorn on Scotland’s contribution to the Queensferry Crossing.
Award-winning documentary maker George Rose says claims the bridge is a feat of British engineering are unfounded.
He said: “It has been represented as a triumph for British engineering, which is a bit hollow when you look at the facts.
“For example, there was a consortium of four companies involved in the building – American Bridge from Pittsburgh, Dragados SA from Spain, Hochtief from Germany and Morrison from London.
“Morrison were very much the junior partner with a 16 per cent stake.
“Then you look at the suppliers for the materials and the picture is worse.
“All the deck sections were produced in China, as were the cable boxes. The caissons were produced in Poland and much of the sheet metal was from Spain. The cables themselves were produced in Switzerland.
“The only major component from the UK was the box girders for the south viaduct.”
Writer and broadcaster Rose, whose documentary After Lockerbie won a Bafta in 1998, added: “I have been watching the bridge develop and it is incredible.
“I went down to the presentations every month and it is terrific to watch.
“These contracts were big jobs but many of them are not extremely technical.
“It seems like a bit of a shame that we don’t seem to have British or Scottish companies capable of taking them on.”
Rose added that part of the reason was the failure of Britain to produce enough engineering graduates, a problem which has been pointed out for years.