View of the Erskine Bridge from the south bank of the River
Clyde. |Official name||Erskine Bridge| |Carries||Motor vehicles,
cyclists and pedestrians| |Design||Box girder bridge|
|Width||Dual two-lane carriageway, two cycle/footpaths (total
width 33 m)| |Longest span||524 m (1,719 ft)| |Opened||2 July
1971| |Daily traffic||~35,000 vehicles| The bridge was designed
by William Brown and opened on 2 July 1971 by HRH Princess Anne.
It has a 524 m (1,719 ft) main span and two 68 m (223 ft)
approach spans. It is 38 m (125 ft) high and 1,310 m (4,300
ft)long. The ceremonial plaque of the opening can be viewed on
the railings of the western footpath, at the centre of the main
span. During construction of the bridge, a major collapse of the
West Gate Bridge in Australia, a bridge of a similar
construction, saw re-calculations in the design and it was found
that it would fail to meet new standards developed as a result
of the Merrison Report on the collapse of West Gate Bridge. As
these standards were not published unt