TRANSPORT Minister Humza Yousaf has said “nobody can hold a candle” to Scotland’s bridges after unveiling a plaque commemorating the Forth Bridge’s world heritage status.
Construction of the railway crossing was completed in 1890 after eight years of labour.
In 2015, it was given the Unesco recognition to confirm the historic structure’s position as a global feat of engineering.
The unveiling comes less than two weeks ahead of the opening of the Queensferry Crossing.
Yousaf said: “The plaque really is a great honour for me to be able to unveil.
“I’m unveiling the Unesco world heritage inscription that was received back in 2015.
“This is definitely the right time to unveil that of course, because we have the Queensferry Crossing in less than a couple of weeks.
“That just adds to the iconic nature of the bridges.
“People, of course, will want to come and see it as a tourist attraction, now knowing it’s a world heritage site. I think that will attract even more people to come and see it.”
The Forth Bridges Forum is tasked with overseeing the structure’s maintenance.
The District Councils’ Network, Historic Environment Scotland, Transport Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, Fife Council and VisitScotland are all part of the group.
They share a collective responsibility to protect the “outstanding universal value”
of the bridge. Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: “The Forth Bridge is one of the world’s most instantly recognisable bridges and a true marvel of Scottish engineering.
“It was fantastic to see it awarded world heritage status and this plaque is an excellent commemoration for all the hard work put in to achieve this.”
The Queensferry Crossing will open to traffic next Wednesday, August 30, with an initial 40mph speed limit.
This is to allow work to take place on the Forth Road Bridge to complete its transformation into an active travel corridor.
When the work is finished, public transport will be switched on to the existing road bridge, opened in 1964, and the Queensferry Crossing will be given motorway status.
Yousaf added: “All three bridges have their own unique, iconic nature.
“I was recently overseas and I was looking at some of the bridges where I was in Istanbul and I have to say, the bridges here – nobody can hold a candle to them.”
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