Forth Road Bridge - maintenance, contract, capital project, budget, future plan: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
You asked 10 questions in relation to the Forth Road Bridge.
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
I have kept your numbering for ease of reference
1. What was the total cost spent on maintenance to the Forth Road Bridge between 2015-2020 when responsibilities were contracted to Amey.
£57,690,409.42
2. List of capital projects carried out on the Forth Road Bridge between 2015-2020.
Please see Annex A, a list of the capital projects from 2015
3. When does Amey's current contract expire on Forth Road Bridge?
The current contract for the Forth Bridges Operating Company ends at midnight on 15 August 2020.
4. Wil there be a new Tender process in 2020 for Maintenance responsibilities on the Forth Road Bridge? If so, what is the Tender process? What wil new contract length be?
The current tender competition for the Trunk Road Network Management Contract – South East Unit will cover the maintenance responsibilities for the Forth Road Bridge. This contract is expected to be awarded in mid-March 2020 with a Commencement of Service Date of 16 August 2020. The tender process is as set out in the Contract Notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union at https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:437959-2018:TEXT:EN:HTML. The contract period is for a duration of eight years extendable up to a maximum of 12 years at Scottish Ministers’ discretion.
5. How do Tendering companies provide a Tender cost and what is this based on? Is Tender based on Capital Project requirements and are Tendering companies provided with yearly budgets for maintenance on the Forth Road Bridge?
Tendering companies for all Trunk Road Operating Company contracts are currently required to provide both quality and financial submissions as set out in the instructions to tender for each competition. Quality submissions are based on responses to a set of questions relating to the key aspects of the required services. Financial submissions are based on a completed schedule of rates and prices using quantities derived from the anticipated volume of work over the base duration of the contract. All submissions received at final tender stage are evaluated and scored in accordance with the evaluation criteria provided to tenderers. Tendering companies are provided with historical annual budgets as part of the information made available to tenderers.
6. What is the budget for the Forth Road Bridge for the next 5 years from 2020-2025?
The draft annual budget for the Forth Bridges and South East (after 15 August 2020) Operating Companies is £20.54 million in 2020/21. Annual budgets for future years are unknown and will be determined by future Scottish Government Spending Reviews.
7. What Capital Projects are scheduled for the next 5 years from 2020-2025?
Please see Annex B, list of indicative capital projects for 2020-2025
8. What is the process of determining what budget is available for the Forth Road Bridge Capital Projects on a yearly basis?
A 10 year forward plan informed by inspections and programme development activities is prepared on a yearly basis. This is used to inform Scottish Government Spending Reviews which determine the available budget on an annual basis. This is value managed together with other competing priorities to determine the annual work programmes.
9. Since opening as a public transport corridor, how many vehicles have used the Forth Road Bridge?
381,990
10. What is the long termplan for the Forth Road Bridge? What is the estimated future lifespan of the Forth Road Bridge?
The Forth Road Bridge is part of the Public Transport Corridor. Investigation are currently underway on whether it could be used in an emergency situation (e.g. closure of the Queensferry Crossing) once the current work is complete to replace the bridge expansion joints.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback