FOI/202100262527 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Queensferry Crossing bridge closures: EIR release
Information requested
1. The number of times the Queensferry Crossing bridge was shut down due to ice, since its opening in 2017, with a breakdown by year 2. The duration of each closure, mentioned above.
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
The Queensferry Crossing has been closed due to falling ice on 3 occasions since opening to traffic in September 2017, details are as follows:
10 February 2020 closed 18:05 reopened 12 February 2020 11:35 (41 hours 30 mins) 04 December 2020 closed 04:16 reopened 08:48 (4 hours 32 minutes) 21 January 2021 closed 02:50 reopened 09:20 (6 hours 30 minutes)
There have been no other ice related incidents during the time frame you have requested that required the bridge to be closed.
About FOI
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Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Enquiry Unit Email: ceu@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrews House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes.
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