Skye Bridge

57.2796 - 5.7385Koordinaten: 57 ° 16 ' 46.6 " N, 5 ° 44' 18.6 " W

F1

A87, pedestrian and bicycle

Loch Alsh

The Skye Bridge ( German: Skye Bridge ) connects Skye, an island of the Inner Hebrides, with the Scottish mainland. The road bridge is part of the A87. It runs from Kyle of Lochalsh on Loch Alsh, an estuary of the Hebrides Lake, according to Kyleakin on Skye. The distance across the loch Alsh at this point is only 400 meters.

History

Since the 17th century there was ferry service in this area, since only 250 meters of water are in some places between the banks. The construction of a bridge to the sparsely populated island of Skye appeared initially not justified. Paying prosperity and above all, increasing tourism traffic brought the government in 1989 to begin planning. With the construction of the Scottish- German consortium Miller Dywidag was commissioned. Work began in 1992. On October 16, 1995, the prestressed concrete bridge with two piers on caissons that extend to twelve feet below the ocean surface to traffic. The ferry in about a kilometer west of it lying on the ferry ports Loch Alsh was set then. The main span of the Skye Bridge is 250 meters, the two side spans of 125 meters. The two lanes, a pedestrian and cycling path on each side usually allow smooth traffic.

Toll - controversy

A stir was caused the initial amount of the toll fee for the private pre-funded transport connection. 2004 cost round trip journey by car 11.40 pounds, and thus a multiple of the ferry costs. Based on the length of the route they should have been the highest toll in Europe. Even opening a local opposition group was formed under the name of Skye and Kyle Against Toll ( German: Skye and Kyle against toll), which caused numerous protests, including toll refusal stir. Over 500 arrests and more than 130 convictions over the years were the result. The Private Finance Initiative had taken 33 million pounds of toll when, after prolonged negotiations on 21 December 2004 with the announcement of the purchase of the bridge by the Scottish Executive, the collection of tolls has been set. The price was 27 million pounds.