BAD weather has stopped work on the Queensferry Crossing for an average of two days a week since last November, new figures have revealed.

Reports obtained by The Sunday Post show that in the last eight months, 71.5 days have been lost to the weather, mainly wind, against 32 allowed for in the project’s programme.

Separate figures show “high” winds were recorded on nearly half of the days in 2015 at the neighbouring Forth Road Bridge with contractors last night under pressure to explain why the bridge’s programme didn’t make more allowance for bad weather.

SNP ministers have said the new £1.3 billion bridge is expected to open in May next year, five months later than previously stated.

Labour’s Transport spokesman Neil Bibby said: “No government or contractor can control the weather but there should have been much better planning for all eventualities.

“It looks like this project had very optimistic expectations for Scottish weather that have unsurprisingly not been met.

“It’s little wonder that the opening date for the bridge has been delayed by at least six months.

“Given there have been more than double the number of days lost to bad weather than expected, SNP ministers must confirm what discussions they have had with Transport Scotland about this and whether there will be any additional cost to the taxpayer because of the delays.”

Work to erect the cables on the bridge is affected by winds of more than 25mph and work to install the decking units is affected by speeds of more than 34mph.

Average wind speeds recorded on the neighbouring Forth Road Bridge show last year there were 158 days when the average wind speeds and gusts topped 30mph.

The year before, the tally was 142 and before that it was 131.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, Edinburgh Western Lib Dem MSP, said: “Anyone who has seen a weather forecast will know that meteorology is not an exact science, but the fact that we have seen double the number of bad weather days than were forecast raises questions over where these numbers came from.

“The upshot of this failure of planning is that motorists are facing months more disruption and delays.”

Transport Scotland documents released to the Sunday Post, dated June 1, stated, “Definitive information on the revised programme has been provided by the contractor which confirms that they are now targeting a June 17 opening date for the bridge.”

A week later the Economy Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown said the crossing was expected to open in mid-May.

Government officials say the new date was achieved when “our independent experts provided a further robust challenge and analysis of each critical activity to make sure everything possible is done to ensure the earliest possible opening”.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “It is for the consortium FCBC to manage their resources throughout the period of the contract but we are aware of the actions that have been implemented by FCBC as required to mitigate any time being lost.

“In short, all that can be done has or is being done to achieve the earliest possible opening date to traffic but as we have stressed, no one can control the weather.”

He added: “The Forth is a windy location and therefore FCBC’s deck lifting and cabling operations are ready to take advantage of relatively short weather windows”.

Race against time

WORKERS building the new Queensferry Crossing are being offered bonuses just to turn up for overtime.

Desperate construction chiefs said the bonus scheme was “mainly used to ensure the workforce attends work for the extended working hours required to maintain the programme”.

A big increase in the number of contractors and equipment has also been ordered in a bid to get the project finished by its new deadline of May.

None of this will cost the taxpayer any more cash as the £1.3 billion bridge is being built under a fixed-price contract.

Earlier this year this newspaper revealed the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors consortium was facing big losses on the project and was scrambling to ensure it did not go beyond its completion date.

This is because a “mechanism for the application of deductions due to damages for the overall works not being completed on time” is written into the project’s contract, meaning ministers could cash in on any further delays.

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