Engineers get Forth Road Bridge moving after lorry crash closure
● Weather-related restrictions may be enforced again
The Forth Road Bridge reopened to traffic late last night after extensive repair work was carried out when a lorry was blown over the central reservation in high winds. The 54-year-old driver has been charged after attempting the cross the bridge while restrictions on high-sided vehicles were in place
The Forth Road Bridge was last night reopened following its closure due to an incident in which a heavy lorry was blown over in high winds.
The crossing was shut between 2am and about 9pm yesterday after the northbound vehicle crashed on to the southbound carriageway.
The incident damaged around 40m of steelwork in the centre of the bridge, which engineers had been working to repair.
It was feared that the work would take several days and involve lane closures.
The lorry was removed by late afternoon but hopes the crossing could be re-opened in time for yesterday’s evening rush hour were dashed.
Police have confirmed that the lorry driver, who suffered minor injuries, has been charged because high-sided vehicles were banned from the bridge at the time.
The incident caused ten-mile traffic queues through Fife during the morning rush hour after commuters diverted to the kin car dine and clackmannanshire bridges.
Transport minister Humza Yousaf said: “Once again, the Forth Road Bridge team has stepped up to repair the bridge. They have successfully removed the overturned HGV and carried out temporary repair work to the damaged central reserve safety grille on the bridge. I would like to pay tribute to the engineers and workers who have faced up to some very challenging and difficult weather conditions throughout the day, to complete the work and get the bridge reopened as quickly and as safely as possible.
“The bridge is now open in both directions for traffic, subject to any restrictions the weather may bring, in line with the forecast. The closure of the bridge was the result of an HGV driver ignoring travel advice and restrictions for high-sided vehicles using the bridge during a period of severe weather warnings. Thankfully no-one was hurt in this incident, but a great deal of disruption has been caused.
“There are and will continue to be a number of severe weather warnings in place for the next few days. So, this is a timely reminder of the importance of listening to advice, checking travel bulletins before travelling and obeying VMS messaging, road restrictions and signed advice.”
Mark Arndt, Amey’s operating company representative for the Forth Road Bridge, said: “It’s been a challenging day but our team has put in a tremendous amount of effort to get the HGV off the bridge and complete the repair work while battling with strong winds, rain and sleet.
“We are pleased that the bridge has now been reopened but we are mindful that with adverse weather forecast for the coming days, there may be further restrictions. We’d urge drivers to check our website or the Traffic Scotland twitter feed for up-to-date travel information before they start their journey.”