In the early hours of Wednesday morning (30 August), the Queensferry Crossing will fully open to traffic in both directions, bringing an end to a 10-year journey from decision to completion and marking a beginning to the life of an instant engineering icon.
The 1.7-mile (2.7km) £1.35bn Queensferry Crossing over the River Forth has already been lit up to mark the handover from the contractors to the Scottish government.
A skyline as beautiful as the sky above
On Monday, a procession of vehicles travelled across the structure ahead of a handover ceremony.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon, who switched on the lights, said workers on the project had 'made history'.
She added: 'Design, engineering and construction - in its own right it is absolutely amazing. But when you put it into the context of these two other amazing bridges, what you have done here is create something truly special.
'This is going to be a tourist attraction. It adds beautifully to the Scottish skyline.'
The crossing is the tallest bridge in the UK, with towers 208m high and longest freestanding balanced cantilever in the world.
The new crossing will take most of the vehicles that currently travel over the 53-year-old Forth Road Bridge, which will be adapted to be used by lighter traffic such as cycles, pedestrians and public transport.
The current Forth Road Bridge opened in 1964 but around 40 years later corrosion of the wires inside its cables had significantly reduced its strength.
The decision to replace it was taken in 2007, with construction of the new crossing beginning in September 2011.
Police are set to put in place a rolling roadblock to stop traffic driving across the Forth Road Bridge and will redirect them across the Queensferry Crossing.
The northbound carriageway will be opened first. The southbound carriageway will be opened about 45 minutes later. The bridge will be fully open to traffic for the rest of the day.
Details from the BBC:
Friday 1 September
Queensferry Crossing will close to all traffic until the early hours of Thursday morning. Vehicles will be redirected back across the Forth Road Bridge.
Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 September
About 50,000 members of the public, who were given tickets through a ballot, will get the chance to walk over the new bridge on Saturday and Sunday.
Monday 4 September
The Queen will officially open the Queensferry Crossing.
Tuesday 5 September
A chance for a further 10,000 local people and school children to walk the bridge.
Thursday 7 September
The bridge will re-open to traffic, with no pedestrian access. The initial speed limit will be 40mph but after work has been completed to adapt the
Forth Road Bridge public transport will be switched back to the old bridge and the Queensferry Crossing will become a 70 mph motorway.
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