Meeting of the Parliament 20 January 2016
I will separate out the issue of the Forth road bridge, which was an unforeseen fault, and focus on the Lamington viaduct, where the issue was caused by the weather. The high volume of water—the “scour”, as it is known—caused the severe damage to the viaduct’s structure.
I am conscious of time, so I say that I am happy to write to Hanzala Malik with full details of the action that we have taken to give the issue the attention that it deserves, including work with Network Rail, mitigation and engineering works. I am happy to share that important information with other members.
The issue is about weather impacting on structure. Satisfactory measures, including inspection and risk assessment, are in place to ensure the safety and continuity of our country’s infrastructure. Of course, we will always look at how we can improve that with transport operators, recognising that climate change is a factor that we are increasingly dealing with.