An official inquiry was launched in mid-December into the closure of Scotland’s vital Forth road bridge, causing traffic chaos in the Edinburgh region. A crack discovered in a steelwork stiffening truss of the 1.8-kilometer-long suspension bridge forced closure on Dec. 4 for at least one month of repairs.
With a roughly 1-km-long main span, the 51-year-old bridge carries more than two million vehicles a month over the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh. Transport Scotland forecasts the cost of repairs to exceed $3 million. But with the nearest next crossing located over 30 km to the east, the economic impact of closure is said to be much greater.