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***News release released on behalf of The ForthRight Alliance -
http://www.forthrightalliance.org
ForthRight Alliance
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate use: Monday 31st Janury 2011
FORTH ROAD BRIDGE GREENWASH CONDEMNED:
Call for ICE to sponsor urgent study into Forth Road Bridge cable-drying
Responding to the news that the so-called "Forth Replacement Crossing" Project had won a "prestigious industry award" for the sustainability and environmental quality of its proposed work, Lawrence Marshall, chair of the ForthRight Alliance, a coalition of groups opposed to the construction of a Second Forth Road Bridge, said:
"This award represents navel-gazing myopia of the worst self-congratulatory kind. The whole project to build an additional road crossing of the Forth at Queensferry at a cost to the public purse of around £2.3 billion reeks of financial incontinency and environmental lunacy.
"If the Institution of Civil Engineers wish to promote sustainability then let them sponsor an urgent study into the efficacy of the cable drying work fully installed since September 2009 on the current Forth road bridge - and which, on the first Severn Bridge, reduced the humidity within sections of the main suspension cables by half within eighteen months of operation.
"How on earth a project which in engineering terms isn't needed and which will double road capacity across the Forth at Queensferry can be regarded as "sustainable" is beyond the ken of all those who take a more holistic view of this mad-cap venture and can only see red where engineers apparently can see green."
ENDS
CONTACTS:
Lawrence Marshall, Chair, ForthRight Alliance, on 0131 669 1336 or 07501 121984.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The ForthRight Alliance is a coalition of groups opposed to the construction of a Second Forth Road Bridge. The Alliance believes that a new road bridge is both unwelcome and unnecessary, as a series of reports have indicated that the problems with the Forth Road Bridge can be addressed without building a second bridge. See http://www.forthrightalliance.org for further details.
[2] Transport Scotland News Release, 30 January 2011
- Project's sustainability and environmental proposals win prestigious industry award -
Completing a highly successful week for the project, the FRC has also received a major industry award for the sustainability and environmental quality of its proposed work.
The Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme (CEEQUAL) gave the FRC an 'excellent' rating for its Interim Assessment with a score of 92.7%.
CEEQUAL is the assessment and awards scheme for improving sustainability in civil engineering and public realm projects and demonstrating the commitment of the civil engineering industry to environmental quality and social performance.
The Scheme rigorously assesses performance across 12 areas of environmental and social concern looking for aspects where clients, designers and constructors go beyond the minimum to achieve high environmental and social standards.
Speaking as he accepted the award at the annual Institution of Civil Engineers' Prestige Lecture in Edinburgh, FRC Project Manager Lawrence Shackman said:
"This is a truly substantial achievement and demonstrates our commitment to going the extra distance in mitigating the environmental and social impact of the FRC project.
"Achieving high quality design across all aspects of the project, from the mitigation works to the roads and the bridge itself, has been a priority for us since the very start of the project. I am delighted to receive this award from CEEQUAL in recognition of this commitment.
"We are committed to ensuring these high standards of design and sustainability are maintained through the construction of the project to its eventual opening in 2016."
* For more information on the CEEQUAL awards go to http://www.ceequal.com
For more information contact:
Ross Hornsey
Transport Scotland
077609 90893
Ref: TS514
[3] The Severn dehumidification project is mentioned in the Highways Agency Annual Report 2008-09 (published 16 July 2009), available online at http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0809/hc06/0641/0641.pdf including the following information:
"In December 2008 the Highways Agency's partners Severn River Crossing plc, InterRoute, Faber Maunsell, C Spencer Ltd and Laing O'Rourke successfully completed the installation of the dehumidification system on the M48 Severn Bridge main suspension cables. The first of its kind to be fully operational in the UK, the project involved the installation of four dehumidification plant rooms within the bridge, and wrapping the entire length of the suspension cables in a polymer based material. The individual wires making up the suspension cables are dried by passing de-humidified air along the wrapped sections. Recent monitoring results are positive, showing humidity reduced to 50% in some places, with the trend heading towards the target of below 40%. This system reduces the effects of corrosion to the main cables."
[4] Details of the Forth road bridge dehumidification scheme can be found at
http://www.forthroadbridge.org/dehumidification
"The works to install a dehumidification system on both cables was successfully completed before the target end date of 31 October 2009. Dehumidification of the west cable commenced in March 2008 and is producing the expected slow and steady fall in the relative humidity within the cable. The dehumidification of the east cable commenced in September 2009 and it is expected to produce the same fall in relative humidity levels within the cable.
The first indication of the system's effectiveness will be available in 2012 when the cable is re-inspected."
(this date of 2012 is a year later than indicated by the Bridgemaster in September 2008 when he wrote that "it is predicted that it could take 18 months for the main cables to 'dry out'" and that a "further inspection is thus planned around 2011 ... to determine if the corrosion has been halted or significantly reduced."
(http://bit.ly/gOXBAe>http://bit.ly/gOXBAe)
END OF NEWS RELEASE
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