Tay Road Bridge
Tay Road Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The Tay Road Bridge, viewed with Dundee in the background. | |
| Coordinates | 56°27′07″N 2°56′53″W / 56.452°N 2.948°W |
| Carries | Motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians 4 lanes of A92 |
| Crosses | Firth of Tay |
| Locale | Dundee |
| Official name | Tay Road Bridge |
| Maintained by | Tay Road Bridge Joint Board |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | William A Fairhurst |
| Total length | 2,250 metres (1.4 mi) |
| History | |
| Opened | 18 August 1966 |
| Statistics | |
| Toll | Free since 11 February 2008 |
| Location | |
 | |
The Tay Road Bridge spans the Firth of Tay immediately south of Dundee, Scotland. Opened in 1966, it replaced the Tay Ferry.
Construction
Designed by consulting engineers, W A Fairhurst & Partners under the direct supervision of founding partner William Fairhurst, the bridge is approximately 2,250m (1.4 miles) in length, making it one of the longest road bridges in Europe.[1] It was constructed over the period 1963 to 1966 by civil engineering contractor, Duncan Logan Construction Ltd and steelwork contractor, Dorman Long (Bridge and Engineering) Ltd.[1] The outline specification was described at the time as follows:-
"The Bridge has a total length of 7,365 ft in 42 spans, most of them of 180ft and the longest 250 ft, the superstructure consists of twin T-beams of composite construction, the stem of each T being a box-girder largely of high yield stress steel with a concrete deck forming one of the dual carriageways." [2]
The bridge was formally opened by HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother on 18 August 1966.[1]
In 2002, a Tay FM competition to find a slogan for the bridge was abandoned after the slogan with the most votes - “It’s all downhill to Dundee” (reflecting the bridge’s downward angle) was deemed unsuitable.
In September 2017, after a successful campaign by Wave 102 to give the bridge a nickname, the bridge was officially nicknamed “Steve” by Chris Duke and Councillor Stewart Hunter. The nickname “Steve” won an online poll to nickname the Bridge.
Former Tay ferry service
The Tay Road Bridge was built to replace the former Tay ferry service, popularly known in Dundee as "the Fifie". A passenger and vehicle ferry service across the River Tay operated from Craigie Pier, Dundee, to Newport-on-Tay. Four vessels formerly operated the service, namely the B. L. Nairn and Sir William High (both Paddle Steamers built in 1929); the Abercraig and the Scotscraig (diesel powered, fitted with Voith Schneider propellors and built in the Caledon Shipyard in Dundee). The final ferry service was made on the day of the opening of the road bridge. The paddle steamers were scrapped while the Scotscraig and Abercraig ended their days in Malta.
The opening of the road bridge on 18 August, 1966, also led to the closure of the railway line from Tayport to Dundee in 1969.
Commemorative obelisk
A 50 ft (15 m) tall obelisk stands at the Newport side, and a smaller one at the Dundee side, to commemorate Willie Logan, managing director of the company that constructed the bridge who was killed in a plane crash near Inverness, and five workers who died during construction. Both of these obelisks are designed as the piers of the bridge, each representing the height of the piers at that end of the bridge.
50th Anniversary commemoration
The bridge was opened formally on 18 August, 1966, by the Queen Mother, and the bridge authorities organised a day of free events on Sunday 21 August 2016 to celebrate the occasion.[3][4]
Tolls
The bridge was originally a bidirectional toll road with the original 1966 toll for motorcycles, cars and goods vehicles of 1/-, 2/6 and 10/-, respectively. Heavy fines were imposed on drivers who broke down on the bridge if they had run out of petrol. On 1 June 1991, one way tolls were introduced for southbound traffic only.
The legislation enabling the levying of tolls was renewed by Parliament (originally that of the UK but now the responsibility of the Scottish Government) repeatedly, most recently on 1 March 2006, where the toll remained unchanged.[5] Although motorcycles were exempt; the tolls for cars, buses and heavy goods vehicles were 80p, £1.40 and £2.00, respectively. On 31 May 2007, the Scottish Parliament voted to scrap tolls on all bridges in Scotland.[6] This came into effect at midnight on 10 February 2008.[7]
The bridge employs 36 staff comprising the Bridge Manager, 2 administration staff, 15 operational staff, and 18 maintenance staff.[8] These employees are mainly housed in a small administration block to the eastern side of the Dundee end of the bridge.
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2007) |
- ^ a b c "Grace's Guide to British Industrial History - Tay Road Bridge". Grace's Guide. 1966. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Tay Road Bridge". The Engineer. 12 August 1966.
- ^ http://www.tayroadbridge.co.uk/50th-anniversary
- ^ http://www.tayroadbridge.co.uk/news/tay-road-bridge-50th-anniversary
- ^ "Bridge tolls shake-up announced". BBC News. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- ^ "MSPs vote to scrap bridge tolls". BBC News. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- ^ "Scotland becomes toll-road free". BBC News. 11 February 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- ^ "Tay Road Bridge". Tay Road Bridge Joint Board. Retrieved 1 March 2008.