The Queensferry Crossing is being built alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge and will be a spectacular new road bridge in Scotland. Becoming one of the biggest road bridges in the United Kingdom it will develop into a globally unique bridge which forms the centre piece of a major upgrade to the important cross – Forth transport corridor in the east of Scotland.
Applus+ RTD Rope Access Central (UK) has landed a major role working on the steel delivery phase on this project. The 1.7 mile structure will be the longest three tower cable stayed bridge in the world and by far the largest to feature cables which cross span.
The towers will reach over 200m high, approximately 25% higher than the towers on the Forth Road Bridge. Constructing such towers demands teamwork with a great deal of grit, persistence and skill from those involved.
Over 28,000 tons of steel is being delivered on huge 250 meter long ships signaling the start of a major new phase in the project.
The sheer scale of the operation has become very clear with the tower structures and the v-shaped viaduct piers visibly rising from the Forth for all to see.
Each steel deck unit weighs 250 tones and these are used to construct the drivable deck surface of the bridge. This deck is supported by the 200m high towers along with embedded anchor boxes and stay cables. The deck sections will connect with land via the north and south viaduct structures. These steel deck units will carry 4 lanes of traffic which will be protected by vehicle restraint systems and will be guarded from the wind by a specially design wind screen system.
Our Rope Access team is working hard to work round the clock to make sure that the activity is done safely within the very tight timescale. They are also providing their expertise in a range of industrial services including access solutions, mechanical cutting, grinding, rigging of the bridge sections to the heavy lift crane assembly ready for removal from the ship and burning of sea fixings.
To ensure the continuing success of this project the coordination both on and off site is carried out with precision and in a timely manner. It is testament to all
Applus+ RTD employees involved that due to their hard work and effort the project has gone without a hitch.