Forth Estuary Transport Authority

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) was the authority responsible for the maintenance of the Forth Road Bridge over the Firth of Forth in eastern central Scotland. FETA was created in 2001 by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 - to replace the Forth Road Bridge Joint Board.

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority was formed in 2001, with a wider remit than the Forth Road Bridge Joint Board it replaced. It was able to fund road and public transport improvements to aide crossing the Firth of Forth, and its new powers permitted it to include the use of routes other than the Forth Road Bridge, such as using the Firth of Forth itself for hovercraft services between Fife and Lothian.

The board of FETA had ten members, allocated as follows:

The Forth Road Bridge underwent a comprehensive structural survey between 2003 and 2005 after suspension bridges of similar design and age in the United States were found to be suffering from corrosion in their main suspension cables. The survey results showed significant corrosion and an accompanying loss in strength of between 8 and 10% in the cables on the Forth Bridge.

The rate of corrosion and weakening of the main cables would have required the bridge to close to HGV traffic some time around 2014 and then close to all traffic by 2019, so plans were drawn up to build a replacement crossing, to run parallel to the existing road bridge between Lothian and Fife. Dehumidification equipment was installed to remove moisture from the inside of the main suspension cables, in an attempt to slow or halt the corrosion, but with no guarantee of success, the Forth Estuary Transport Authority and Scottish Government were left with no option but to plan the construction of a new crossing.

Dehumidification work on the Forth Road Bridge was successful in halting the corrosion of the main cables, so there is now no requirement to close the existing Forth Road Bridge to traffic. The Forth Road Bridge will, as a result, be incorporated into the road network alongside the new bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, and will provide a dedicated public transport crossing, remaining available as a diversionary route in the event the new bridge has to be closed.

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