Officials at Scotland’s Queensferry Crossing are considering fitting snow-repelling coatings or steel mesh to its 288 cables.

The Scotland on Sunday newspaper has learned a French lab is testing solutions with results expected this week, but it is not known how quickly the chosen option to combat ice “accretion” on the bridge could be installed or how long it would take.

The report explains bridge managers have admitted installing coatings or mesh “would not necessarily be any less disruptive or different in duration” than rejected options that could take between six months and two years to put in.

However, Scotland on Sunday added, BEAR Scotland, which operates the crossing for Transport Scotland, stressed that a key requirement was that it should not be more disruptive than the ice problem, which has closed the bridge three times within a year, one of them for two days.

(Picture – Yay Images)