Forth Un-Bridge?

Carnegie spotted the story in the Sunday Herald that dismantling the Forth Road Bridge could cost £130 million.

"THE SCOTTISH government's transport agency is considering demolishing the Forth Road Bridge - at a cost of nearly £130 million. A report by Transport Scotland, released under freedom of information law, reveals that consultants have been asked to estimate the cost of dismantling the entire 43-year-old structure. The study was part of extensive investigations earlier this year into a Forth replacement crossing, which is being backed by the Scottish government. Consultations are now under way on whether to build a new bridge or dig a tunnel because of fears over the corrosion of the existing bridge's cables. In a report produced in June, experts from Jacobs and Faber Maunsell calculated that the total cost of demolishing the deck, the cables, the towers and the approach viaducts of the current bridge would be likely to come to £128.57m."

Carnegie asks wouldn't that money be better spent, in a worst case scenario, on changing the bridge's use into something else. How about a four lane, motorway standard bicycle lane? Or how about a dedicated route for a hovercraft service (after all, the Hovercraft wouldn't weigh anything would it)?