Drying the Forth Road Bridge

News

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) has awarded C Spencer and Bennett Associates a £7.8m contract to install dehumidification equipment on the main cables of the bridge.

C Spencer and Bennett Associates were involved in the unwrapping and original internal investigation of the cables of the Forth Road Bridge in 2004. The inspection revealed that the cables had suffered significant corrosion. The current loss of strength, as verified by a Scottish Executive-commissioned independent audit, is believed to be in the region of 8 to 10 per cent.

The discovery of corrosion in older suspension bridges in the USA prompted FETA to become the first European bridge authority to carry out an internal cable inspection.

A package of measures was put in place by FETA to monitor the corrosion and minimise further deterioration. Dehumidification was quickly identified as the best line of defence against further corrosion.

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