The demolition of the Forth Road Bridge could cost nearly £130m - according to a team of transport experts. In a report produced for Transport Scotland in June, specialists from Jacobs and Faber Maunsell estimate the total cost of demolishing the deck, the cables, the towers and the approach viaducts of the current 43-year-old structure at about £128.6m.
The study, obtained by Friends of the Earth Scotland under the freedom of information act, was part of a Scottish government investigation into a replacement road crossing for the Forth. Phil Flanders, RHA director for Scotland, says: "I don't think it will happen unless the bridge is unsafe for any traffic."
Bridge operator Forth Estuary Transport Authority believes the bridge's corroded main cables could be replaced or augmented. But this could take up to seven years and shut the crossing every weekend for a year.