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22nd April 2016

Ainscough Crane Hire Queensferry Crossing Project

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Market leading lifting solutions company, Ainscough Crane Hire, has lifted one of its own all terrain cranes onto the new Forth Road Bridge in the process becoming the first vehicle to drive on part of the emerging road deck.

The new bridge, known as the Queensferry Crossing, is due to open in 2017 and forms the centrepiece of a major £1.3 billion upgrade to the important cross-Forth transport corridor in the east of Scotland.

The 1.7 miles (2.7km) structure will be the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world and also by far the largest to feature cables which cross mid-span. This innovative design provides extra strength and stiffness, allowing the towers and the deck to be more slender and elegant.

Ainscough is providing a range of lifting capacity at the bridge site for main contractor consortium Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors. Work at the northern end of the bridge has seen a 500 tonne crane lifting bundles of construction materials, like steel rebar, onto the ever-growing road deck.

The smaller, LTM 1040, lifted into place by the 500 tonne crane, is being used to distribute the materials in smaller packages to where they are required.

The crane will spend eight months on the road deck before being driving off the bridge once it is complete.

Contract lift manager at Ainscough’s Falkirk depot, David Shaw said: “It is fantastic to be involved in projects which are of national and international significance. Scotland is world famous for its ingenuity and we are very pleased to be playing a small role in the realisation of this magnificent road bridge.

“That the first vehicle to drive on the bridge is one of our Ainscough Cranes; it is a light-hearted but enjoyable milestone for us.”

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