Thank you, convener.
I am pleased to be able to report continuing good progress on all aspects of the work for the FRC project since our previous appearance before the committee in February this year. As the convener has just mentioned, the project team hosted a visit by him and some committee members two weeks ago to see the work that was going on at the south tower at bridge deck level. They experienced some of the better weather conditions that have prevailed in 2015.
The site workforce has steadily increased during the year, and it currently stands at a new peak of 1,266. Their skill, hard work and dedication have meant that progress on the principal contract for the Queensferry crossing and approach roads continues on time for opening to traffic by the end of 2016. That progress, coupled with continued low levels of inflation, has meant that we are still working within the overall final project cost range of £1.35 billion to £1.4 billion, which was announced last October.
I will focus on progress on the principal contract. As we have done previously, we have given the committee a diagram of the various areas of the project, which may help when I describe those areas.
On the south side, the new B800 bridge on the South Queensferry to Kirkliston road has been completed; it was opened to traffic at the end of July. The A904/B924 junction is now fully signalised, and the excavation work for the new M90 road cutting to the north of the South Queensferry junction is now nearly complete. The alignment of the new road to the south and west of South Queensferry is clearly visible. Construction of the lower road layer started in August; that is to be followed by the bituminous layers this autumn.
Steady progress has been made on the Queensferry crossing. In the summer, the bridge towers became the tallest in the United Kingdom. The first cables have been installed at the north and south towers, and construction of the steel viaduct sections and their supporting piers is nearing completion. The tower crane for the north tower has now reached its final height of 235m, and the cranes at the centre and south towers will be jacked up to the same height shortly.
The north tower has reached concrete pour 51 out of 54, with the south and centre towers currently at concrete pours 48 and 46 respectively. The first stay cables have been installed at both the north and south towers, and the four deck units, which were previously supported on the large temporary trestles, have been lifted clear of them by transferring the load into the cables. That means that the four cables are carrying a load of about 4,000 tonnes in total in each tower.
A major milestone was achieved last week, when the first two deck units, complete with their concrete deck and fitted out with internal access walkways and mechanical and electrical installations, were loaded on to a barge at the quayside in Rosyth and lifted into place either side of the north tower. That was on 7 and 9 September. Each of those deck units weighs about 800 tonnes. The contractor is now welding the deck units in position and will then install the next pairs of cables to transfer the load from the blue deck-lifting gantries. Work in the Rosyth marine yard to prepare the deck units is progressing well, with deck concrete and internal fit-out complete or in progress on 26 deck units.
On the viaducts, the push launch for the steelwork on the south side has been completed, with the final launching operations over pier S3 having taken place in June. The twin boxes are each 543m long, and work has now started to install the concrete deck, starting at the south abutment and working north. All the steelwork has been delivered, welded and painted on the north side, and the focus has now shifted to preparations for the launch of the 222m-long north viaduct approach structure, which weighs nearly 6,000 tonnes. The gantry crane and tent structure, which have provided good weather protection to the welding and painting works, will be removed shortly. That will allow for installation of the king post, which is a modified version of those used for the south approach viaduct launches.
On the north-side road works, the Ferrytoll viaduct is nearing structural completion, with the 18 steel girders having been lifted into place between January and March this year, and seven of the nine deck concrete pours have been completed. Work on the bridges to carry the northbound M90 across the new Ferrytoll junction has been completed, and the final road surfacing is in progress to allow traffic to be switched on to the new alignment shortly. Significant work has also progressed on Hope Street in Inverkeithing, and the B981 King Malcolm Drive-Ferry Toll Road junction is now fully signalised.
The physical progress across the project is of course attracting ever-increasing interest, and we continue to engage with the public, schools and stakeholders, making use of a wide range of communication techniques. The contact and education centre is the focus for those activities. That has resulted in very positive media coverage, and community relations have continued to be very good, with much positive feedback from the many presentations and site visits that we have hosted. We continue to monitor the performance of the two road contracts that were completed earlier in the project, and that performance remains positive.
Overall, 2015 to date has presented some challenging weather conditions, with the lack of a normal summer and repeated periods of what has been reported as “unseasonably windy weather”. However, through careful planning and the determined efforts of the very skilled workforce on site, we have been able to minimise the effects and to keep the project on track—both on time and on budget.