Skye Bridge
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Skye Bridge | |
---|---|
Arup | |
Construction start | 1992 |
Opened | 16 October 1995 |
Replaces | Caledonian MacBrayne Kyle of Lochalsh ferry |
Location | |
The Skye Bridge (
Traditionally, the usual route from the mainland to Skye was the shortest crossing, with a length of around 500 metres (1,640 ft), across the sound between the villages of Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland and Kyleakin on the island's east coast. A ferry service operated from around 1600, run by private operators and latterly by Caledonian MacBrayne.
Background
Road and rail connections to Kyle of Lochalsh were constructed towards the end of the 19th century and various parties proposed building a bridge to the island. Although the engineering task was well within the capability of the age (the crossing is shorter and shallower than that bridged by the Forth Bridge), the island's remoteness and small population meant that the cost could not be justified.
By 1971 the two 28-car ferries carried more than 300,000 vehicles.[2] Increased prosperity in the islands and a healthy summertime tourist traffic led to traffic queuing for the ferries. This brought renewed calls for the construction of a road bridge.
Design and construction
In 1989
The two caissons that the main span stands on were cast as hollow cylinders in the old Kishorn Dry Dock and floated to site where they were sunk onto the prepared loch bed. Kishorn Dock had been built for the oil industry, but only built the one rig – Ninian Central.
Toll controversy
This was the first major capital project funded by the
The tolls charged by the bridge concessionaire, Skye Bridge Ltd., were particularly unpopular. By 2004 a round trip cost visitors £11.40, fourteen times the round trip price charged by the Forth Road Bridge, a crossing over twice the length. Protesters claimed the toll made it the most expensive road in Europe. While the Skye bridge was being built, several other, smaller bridges in the Hebrides were also being built or planned. These bridges were to connect smaller islands either to larger ones or to the mainland and were without tolls. Skye locals came to believe that the Skye bridge should also be a public road and free of tolls.
The ferry operator, Caledonian MacBrayne, had made a profit of over a million pounds per year on the route, but observers from the BofA and later the National Audit Office noted that many locals were excused the ferry fee by ferry workers, with much of the ferry's revenue coming from the heavy summertime tourist traffic. In the bridge's first year of operation it recorded traffic of 612,000 vehicles, a third more than the ferry's official numbers.
The campaign included mass protests and a prolonged non-payment campaign, and continued as long as did the tolls. A toll-collector interviewed by the BBC said that abuse of collectors by motorists had been commonplace. Numerous toll opponents were cited for refusing to pay the toll, with around 500 being arrested and 130 subsequently convicted of non-payment. Among those charged was Clodagh Mackenzie, an elderly lady from whom the land necessary for the bridge's arrival in Skye had been compulsorily purchased; the charges against her were subsequently dropped without explanation. Of those convicted, only the first, the SKAT Secretary Andy Anderson, received a (brief)
The bridge, and the toll protest, became a continuing political issue. Following the 1997 General Election, the Labour-run Scottish Office introduced a scheme whereby tolls for locals were subsidised (the scheme cost a total of £7 million). Following the creation of the
An Drochaid, an hour-long documentary in Scottish Gaelic, was made for BBC Alba documenting the battle to remove the tolls.[6][7]
References
- ^ Skye Crossing (Kyle of Lochalsh/Kyleakin, 1995) | Structurae
- ^ "Skye tourist officers call for bridge link". The Glasgow Herald. 29 December 1971. p. 5. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Fiscal 'stunned' at tolls denial". BBC. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "Skye Bridge tolls to be abolished". BBC. 3 June 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "Tolls abolished for Skye Bridge". BBC. 21 December 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "An Drochaid / THE BRIDGE RISING". Media Co-op. January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "An Drochaid". BBC Alba. BBC. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- BBC Radio 4 (4 January 2005). "A Bridge too Far".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Monbiot, George (2001). Captive State. Pan. ISBN 0-330-36943-1. Chapter One: The Mystery of Skye Bridge
External links
- SKAT homepage on No Tolls site
- A year of the Skye Bridge in Pictures
- Skye Bridge at Structurae
- Eilean Bàn
- George Monbiot, The Guardian, 28 December 2004, A Scandal of Secrecy and Collusion
- At the limits of free cantilevering