Collisions

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It is the First Time The Bridge was closed because of the traffic share in August, 2017

The Queensferry Crossing was closed, for the First Time since opening in 2017, after the ice and snow from the cable on the vehicles below.

The Bridge between Edinburgh and Fife was closed on Monday evening, and will remain, on Wednesday, the Scottish government said.

Eight vehicles were damaged, before The Bridge was closed for safety reasons.

It led to long traffic jams, the driver is a 35-mile diversion, crossing the Kincardine Bridge take.

Winter weather is still in Scotland,

The £1 influence. 35bn Queensferry Crossing , the traffic opening in August 2017, was expected to remain open in any weather.

It was equipped with a 3. 5m (11 ft) high barriers developed That The Bridge be closed from the strong Winds .

Getty image Queen ferry Crossing

facts

£1. 35bnbuild costs

2. 7km range over the Firth of Forth

207metres high

37,000 km of cabling

said 24mvehicle trips per year

source: the Scottish government

The Bridge operator Amey, the closure came on Monday after a specific combination of snow, wind, and fluctuating temperatures caused a build up of ice And Then fall.

Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said there had been built a similar Problem Last Winter in snow and ice, up to several cables, but The Bridge was not closed.

Mr Matheson said: "I understand the frustration of travellers today, and I Am very sorry That The Bridge was closed, for the First Time , but it is a bridge, the us much greater resistance than the old Forth Road Bridge.

"It is now something like 30 occasions, if we would have had only partial or no use of the Forth Road Bridge, in the recital, to work on the Queensferry Crossing remains. "

The minister said That the Forth Road Bridge remained open for public traffic, but would not reopen for General traffic due to large construction sites currently on the track.

"we do what We can to mitigate the impact of this closure. A diversion route via the Kincardine Bridge , and I want you to way to encourage travelers, the of more. to examine an alternative route avoiding the main junction, where possible," he added.

Two diversion routes were Set Up , over the Kincardine Bridge

the engineers are currently in to the ice monitor, and a further update will appear on Wednesday.

Mark Arndt, of Amey, said That the closure was forced by a "unique set of weather conditions".

"We had Winds , a combination of the strong West. a mixture of snow and sleet, which led to snow accumulations on the main cable of the Queensferry Crossing ," he said.

"At an elevated height, the snow-accumulation was cooled. It was collected in a reasonable size and fell to the pavement.

"It was on the grounds of safety, we made the decision, in the vicinity of The Bridge . "

He said he was not aware of the great damage caused by falling snow and ice.

The closure of The Bridge led to a build-up of traffic on alternative routes

to add an additional 35 miles (56km) on the driver's travel.

Traffic Scotland said the distraction was a delay of up to one hour, although some drivers said their journey times of 90 minutes longer than usual.

ScotRail said it was with extra trains over the Forth Bridge , and there are additional buses on the Forth Road Bridge.

cars 'Dodge', to prevent ice and snow from The Bridge , The BBC also spoke with Graeme Stevenson, whose windshield was smashed by ice falling from The Bridge

JP Ward's car hit snow and ice on Monday.

He drove over The Bridge from Dalgety Bay , Fife, 17:55 in "nasty weather" with "wind from the left to the right, snow storms, [and] spraying on the street".

"I saw the big white blocks fall from The Bridge , thought it was snow," he said. "A couple of cars were miss into a skid, and hit the brakes, causing possible accidents. "

He added: "At this point, I saw several pieces fall over the three lanes. The blocks were of [the size] of small tables to soccer balls, but they were as thick as phone books. "

Mr Ward's car roof was hit by what he described as a "block of ice". It "sounded like [a] loud thunder bang", "what me to swerve".

The Teacher said, he "spent the next hundred meters to Dodge the ice, and the avoidance of cars".

"in my view, The Bridge should have been closed hours earlier, and I'm glad you [in] a piece.

"My Teaching colleagues said they had been on The Bridge , only an hour earlier, and saw the four cars in the side of The Road after the hit and had to slam on their brakes to avoid Collisions . "

Graeme Stevenson has this picture from The Car after the windshield was smashed on Monday

Kenneth Pitt, 64, was a passenger in his colleague van on Monday evening, when the windscreen was smashed by falling ice.

The couple were on the way home from work in Rosyth, when The Incident happened, the damage to the right side mirror and the windshield caused.

she saw three other vehicles on the hard shoulder That had been damaged by falling ice.

your usual commute of South Queensferry takes about 15 Minutes , but This Morning , the detour over the Kincardine took Mr Pitt for More Than an hour on the bus.

Sensors are to be mounted due to The Bridge this year, That a previous warning against the formation of ice on The Bridge structure.

for southern Scotland, as heavy snow showers for Tuesday afternoon and into the evening.

snow showers expected "often and hard", which is a large part of Dumfries and Galloway, the borders and South Lanarkshire and East Ayrshire .

for much of the rest of Scotland, until midnight on Tuesday .

queensferry, snow, north queensferry, edinburgh

Source of news: bbc.com