Queensferry Crossing is named project of decade

The Queensferry Crossing has been named project of the decade by the Ground Engineering awards.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the awards, one major project award winner was selected from each year.

The industry and public then voted for their favourite, and the £1.35 billion Scottish Government flagship project, the 2015 winner, came out on top.

GE editor Claire Smith said the team had been overwhelmed by the response to the voting, which was thrown open to the public so the industry could use it as a chance to talk about the social benefits ground engineering delivers.

The bridge beat engineering feats to the top spot including the 2010 winner, London skyscraper The Pinnacle and the 2013 victor, the UK’s first urban cable car, the Emirates Air Line in London.

Economy Secretary Keith Brown said: “This award is recognition for the dedication and professionalism of the people who worked on this project.

“The success of this project was quite literally built on the foundations of the initial land and marine investigations.

“These paved the way for the marine foundations for the bridge which were a highly complex and critical aspect of the whole construction process.

“The south and north tower foundations in particular were record breaking and a truly world-class feat of civil engineering in challenging conditions deep underneath the waters of the Forth.”

The crossing has also been named as a finalist in Construction News’ project of the year, in the more than £30 million category.

This sees eight of the biggest, most high- profile schemes battle to be named the industry’s exemplar project.

It is up against New Scotland Yard, the Mersey Gateway Bridge and Thameslink rail programme.

Picture: Fraser Bremner. Keith Brown.