The May opening date for the Queensferry Crossing is realistic, but not guaranteed, according to the consortium behind the project.
Initially expected to be ready last December, the £1.325 billion bridge’s opening was postponed after bad weather delayed work.
Now due to open in May, the penultimate deck section was raised into position at the weekend.
It is anticipated the final piece of deck will be manoeuvred into place in the next 10 days, meaning the bridge will link Fife to the Lothians for the first time.
Representing the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors Consortium, Michael Martin said what was needed to finish on time was the right weather.
“We have got a credible programme,” he said.
“One thing for sure, there is no lack of effort or commitment from my team or stakeholders in getting the bridge open as soon as we possibly can.
“We cannot guarantee it though because it would be foolish to do that when there are things I cannot control.
“There is no guarantee, we cannot, but it is a realistic programme which makes it achievable.”
At present almost 1,300 workers are on site as the countdown truly begins to the day it opens to traffic.
With the final deck segment ready to be installed and bridge control room largely complete, Mr Martin warned there was still a lot of work to be done.
A huge amount of mechanical and electrical work would be taking place.
That included four concrete pours, the final 20 cable stays to be installed, 100,000 square metres of roadway to be surfaced and waterproofed and 35km of wind shields to be erected.
Given the recent closure of the Forth Road Bridge, the effectiveness of wind shielding on the new crossing was under scrutiny.
While never say never, experts say it would have to be “exceptional circumstances” to see the closure of the Queensferry Crossing because of high winds as wind speed would have to reach 115 mph to force the closed signs to go up.
MSP claims attempt to “hoodwink” public on costs
A war of words has broken out over projected savings on the cost of the Queensferry Crossing.
Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Mike Rumbles claimed the Scottish Government has attempted to pull the wool over people’s eyes on the reduced cost of the bridge.
The row erupted after it was revealed that of the £245 million which has been saved, £192m was due to lower than expected inflation.
The MSP said: “These figures reveal that it’s been all smoke and mirrors from the Scottish Government.
“The SNP have been patting themselves on the back for delivering the new bridge on time and under budget.
“In reality, it was meant to open to the public last month and now we learn the budget was grossly overestimated.
“Nearly £200m of the so-called savings has been down to inflated projections, rather than the ‘robust risk management and strong project governance’ reported to parliament.
“Trying to deliberately hoodwink the public on both the timescale and cost of this major infrastructure project is simply unacceptable.”
A Scottish Government spokesman replied: “It is a simple fact that the FRC project has released £245m worth of savings back to the Scottish budget since construction began in 2011.
“The £53m saved over that time specifically due to robust project management by the Scottish Government team is obvious evidence of a successfully procured and managed project.”
