Sir, – Why is everyone meekly accepting the less than illuminating explanations of how a crack which threatens the integrity of one of our major transport structures came about without anyone noticing it?
Is it plausible that such serious structuraldamage could have occurred without anyone noticing it since theprevious inspection?
Why are the inspection intervals not shorter in order to prevent this from happening?
If the answer is to save money, tell that to the people who are hugely inconvenienced for at least the next month or more.
As this has occurred to one part of the bridge,in how many otherlocations is it possiblefor such a fault to emerge at some time in the future without it being noticed until it is too late?
What delays will any other such discoveries cause?
Has the Scottish transport minister got the remotest idea ofhow devastating thissituation is to individuals, families and businesses across Scotland and far beyond?
Did the populistdecision to remove tolls from the bridge lead to a significant increase in traffic. If so we should redefine “free” given the unintended consequences?
Was the bridge carrying more than its design load? If so, who allowed that to happen, and why?
In the unlikely event of a response to these questions, please note that there is no such thing as a systemic failure.
Systems are designed and created by people and any faults are traceable back to a named individual or individuals.
If, as the politicians claim, safety is their paramount concern, this would surely never have happened.
Rex Last (Professor Emeritus). Oak Villa, New Alyth.
Build rail haltat airport
Sir, – For as long as I can remember, the east coast railway has passed the runway at Edinburgh Airport but no one has had the common sense to put a station there.
I have been wondering about it for more than 30 years.
If the Scottish Government was serious about helping during the current crisis, it would only take a day to erect a temporary station by the airport, using scaffolding, and a shuttle bus. Dead easy. It would help easecongestion.
It is one thing to be late for a shopping trip or work, but quite another issue if you miss your check-in for a flight.
Chris Gay. Mortimer Court, Dalgety Bay.
We should have built a tunnel
Sir, – Anything made of metal which repeatedly flexes and changes temperature eventually hardens and cracks. Sadly, the many losses of the world’s first jet airliners proved this over and over again.
The Forth Road Bridge is in a continuous state of flexibility as the weight of vehicles changes from minute to minute, while strong gales and frost do nothing to maintain the stability of the structure.
The bridge, therefore, can be no exception to the laws concerning the behaviour of metals under stress.
As such laws are now well known and understood, surely some sort of regular survey should have been carried out at the places wheremaximum flexibilitywas expected.
The important expansion joints were inspected and replaced but I read that no regular inspection of thesupporting girder work was carried out.
In the long term,tunnels as opposed to large, slim and flexible structures will always be a better bet for river crossings.
They may cost more but they will not suffer from the stress-fatigue fractures that we are now seeing.
I’m sure all thosepeople trying to get to Edinburgh from Fife will agree that a tunnel would have been a better bet.
I hope for the sake of the next generation that lessons are currently being learned regarding the building of the new Forth crossing.
Archibald A. Lawrie. 5 Church Wynd, Kingskettle.
Guard against panic buying
Sir, – In the festiveseason it is rarely wiseto adopt the role ofharbinger of doom.
I still feel it is right to draw attention to the real prospect of panic buying in the shops in the wake of the Forth Road Bridge closure.
This amounts to a lot more than the normal domestic frenzy we all experience at this time of the year.
It is the prospect of hauliers not being able to get deliveries to supermarkets on time, shelves being temporarily bare, rumours spreading and a rush to buy ensuing.
It is only one of the considerations theScottish Government’s resilience committee should be considering.
It is still one that should be high on its list of priorities if they want to prevent inconvenience to the broad public andto protect the most vulnerable at a difficult time.
The Holyrood government faces a challenge similar to the one of December 2010.
Then the appalling snowy weather caused travel disruption throughout the country.
This time it will face criticism over why the potential structural damage on the bridge was allowed to go undetected.
It faces a challenge, too, to co-ordinate the efforts of the rail and bus organisations, theprivate road hauliers, the emergency services, the police and even the army, to ensure the comfort of us all.
In 2010 the minority SNP government recovered from the weather crisis to go on to a resounding victory at the following May election.
The public will be watching very closely how it manages this bridge crisis.
Bob Taylor. 24 Shiel Court, Glenrothes.
Intolerance of secularists
Sir, – That Spencer Fides of the Scottish Secular Society should think the selection of Sophia Coyle as SNP regional candidate is “worrying” (December 3) is itself deeply disturbing.
Apparently because she does not agree with the Scottish SecularSociety’s views onabortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia she is “unacceptable”.
Is this the brave new world that the militant secularists want us to live in one where only those who accept certainviews are eligible to be politicians?
Nothing demonstrates the intolerance of the secularists more than this.
In a liberal democracy politicians have felt free to express their convictions on moral positions, whatever the origin of those beliefs.
The SSS is seeking to change this and tointimidate and prevent anyone who is deemed to hold religious views from holding public office. That is what is reallyworrying.
David A Robertson. Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, St Peter’s Free Church 4 St Peter Street, Dundee.
Mutton gets chop from diet
Sir, – In 1975, as a mature student teacher, married with two young children, we eked out my meagre student grant with diced mutton at 43p per pound from the defunct Galloway butcher chain.
This made a very cheap but tasty curry from a not too popular meat. You can imagine my shock while strolling through the Perth shops to see a butcher advertising mutton at £13.50 per kilo, or £5.93 per pound. I was not tempted to get fleeced.
John Napier. Lismore, Redgorton.
Questions for Angus Council
Sir, – Now that the tangled web of finances of the South Links caravan park, Montrose, and Wow Leisure Ltd are being made public, I wonder if anyone at Angus Council, officials or councillors, has any regrets as to how the matter has been handled? Why was the lease granted to this company in the first place and what was the real reason that a loan of £275,000 was granted?
It looks as if the council are creditors to the sum of £400,000.
I hope they can recover this.
Interestingly it looks as if other creditors include a former Wow Leisure director in person for £312,073 and also New Lauriston Caravan Park Ltd to the sum of £213,073.
If Angus Council learns anything from this, let’s hope it will be to use more caution.
Bill Crowe. 80 Castle Street, Montrose.
Clarity call over funding call
Sir, – When Alex Orr submitted his letter headed Gaelic television starved of funds (December 2) was he writing in a personal capacity or as a member of the SNP National ExecutiveCommittee?
Douglas W. Tott. Stoneyburn, Bruichladdich, Isle of Islay.