Bolt Ons Don't Save Edinburgh Money

Edinburgh's Forth Road Bridge is cracking up. That's the verdict of engineers, who've replaced cracked bolts on its hangers, that hold the cables to the carriageways.

The bolts are expected to have a 30-year lifespan but broken bolts have been discovered just 10 years in. Other work that needs completing includes dry air blowers to be installed to halt corrosion on the bridge's cables.

The problem is a world first. No other suspension bridge has been found to suffer from this difficulty. Councillors, drivers and transport professionals hope that the 2,000 bolts can be replaced or stopped from cracking if this has been caught in time. The cracked bolts were only spotted on a routine inspection and officials were not expecting to find anything like this.

What do you think - should we be investing more in hovercrafts and other transport across the water? Should the Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh council be budgeting for replacing the bridge?

• 13 Oct 2008
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