THE ENGINEERS appointed to design and build the new Forth crossing are confident it will be ready in 2016.

Consultants Jacobs Arup, who have worked on projects including the Channel Tunnel, the Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong and, closer to home, the Upper Forth Crossing, said the deadline was ambitious but possible.

Ground investigations and dialogue with landowners have already started and next month the riverbed will be drilled to test the conditions for securing the bridge's three towers. More...