‘Farcical’ that bridge can’t cope with ice

SIr, – What a farcical situation that we have a bridge built to serve the country well into the 22nd Century, when it can’t even survive weather conditions which could only be described as moderate.

The original bridge sometimes had this problem with ice.

Were no lessons learned that could alleviate this problem?

If this bridge had been designed and constructed in Norway or Sweden, heating elements would have been built in to all suspension cables to stop ice becoming an extra weight.

Power to these elements could be provided by a couple of wind turbines at both ends of the bridge, which in the summer could service the national grid to recover costs.

Now we have the equivalent of the excuse of the “wrong type of leaves” on the rail lines.

I would assume that all omissions have been caused by penny-pinching by the government. It was alleged that John Swinney had reduced the designed deck width by 20 metres, a dedicated bus lane and a service lane in either direction.

It seems a shame that the government has spawned yet another white elephant along with CalMac ferries, Prestwick Airport and others.

Alexander Sutherland, Hilton Drive, Aberdeen