The Scottish Government has announced that the Queensferry Crossing’s centre tower deck has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest freestanding balanced cantilever in the world.
The Scottish Government writes:
The Queensferry Crossing’s centre tower deck has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest freestanding balanced cantilever in the world. The bridge’s central deck is now complete but still free standing and this 644 metre cantilever itself won’t last long. Soon, it will be connected to the flanking towers and viaducts to form the final superstructure. However, experts at Guinness World Records have inspected and officially ratified the record while the deck is in this world-record breaking but still temporary state.
Since last September each 16 metre, 750 tonne section of deck has been added piece by piece and the central tower deck fan is now fully complete. Each deck section is added ensuring that the cantilever remains balanced, which avoids placing too much stress on the concrete tower by adding deck segments sequentially at alternate ends. Using this method means that there can be up to 4 metres displacement in the deck itself, in the period between one deck lift and the next. While this is entirely normal and expected, it has led members of the public to ask if the deck fans will actually meet.
Until now the balanced cantilever method has never been used to construct a bridge this big.
