TRANSPORT SCOTLAND has opened the tender process for contractors bidding to build the new Forth road crossing.

The project will cost between £1.7 billion and £2.3 billion as a whole, with the deal for design and construction of the bridge and new road connections expected to be worth between £900m and £1.2 billion.

Selected companies will receive the official tender documents by the end of the year and a final decision will be made in spring 2011.

The structure to be sited west of the existing bridge will be the biggest transport project in Scotland for a generation and is targeted for completion by 2016.

Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson said, “The need to protect and improve the capacity for cross-Forth travel is beyond doubt and the Scottish Government is absolutely clear that sustainable economic growth must be promoted in these difficult financial times.”

An industry day attended by top contractors from around the world was held in Edinburgh in March to discuss the delivery of the scheme.

Before any work can begin the Scottish Government must pass a parliamentary bill, scheduled to be introduced before the end of this year.

Mr Stevenson said, “We have been clear that the Forth replacement crossing will be funded directly by the Scottish Government from existing capital budgets.

“Against the backdrop of the global economic downturn, we are driving forward the largest transport investment programme Scotland has ever seen with a number of vital projects, of which the FRC is the biggest.

“I am looking to the construction industry to be enthusiastic about the chance to bid to build a project which is not only vital for the economy and communities of Scotland but also one which will join the two iconic Forth bridges as part of an internationally recognised landmark.”

The deck of the cable-stayed bridge will be a motorway standard two-lane carriageway with hard shoulders.

It will have three “mono- towers,” two central spans of approximately 650 metres each and approach viaducts.

Around 5.5 kilometres of new or upgraded trunk road connections with hard shoulders and two flyover junctions are included in the contract, as is an intelligent transport system with gantry displays for variable speed limits.

The existing Forth Road Bridge is to be retained for use by public transport, pedestrians and cyclists only.

A separate procurement exercise will be undertaken for the upgrading of Junction 1A on the M9 and an intelligent traffic system on the M9 spur south to Newbridge and Admiralty junction to Halbeath.