Going Forth

I've chosen a bridge in the news for this week's Sunday Stamps II  theme.  The Forth Road Bridge was closed in October 2015 when one of the pin truss end links was found to have failed (a 2cm hairline crack) in the north tower.  There is a nice shot of one of the central towers with its St Andrew's Cross bracing on the cover photograph and here is a diagram of the north tower fault.   

The bridge is now opened to motor cars, pedestrians and cyclists but the HGVs will have to make the longer journey round until February.  The contractor, Amey, have taken the opportunity to do additional work on the bridge but have had to contend with some awful weather.  The cover issued in 2014 for the bridge's 50th anniversary features four Scottish Regional stamps and one 1964 commemorative stamp.  Royal Mail produced two stamps to celebrate the bridge opening designed by Andrew Restall, who seemed to be their go to guy for any technology issues 

The other stamp of the set shows the iconic Forth Rail Bridge (seen through the suspension cables spans of the Road Bridge)  

which celebrated its 125th Anniversary in 2015.  The cover features five of last year's 'Bridges' set 

but of the ten I have only walked over one which is the packhorse bridge in the Lake District's Wasdale valley (Row Bridge) on the right although the ancient Tarr Steps in Exmoor is a popular postcard subject.   The full stamp set can be seen here

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme - Bridges - cross over here to see more