The Erskine Bridge crosses the River Clyde near the villages of Erskine to the south and Old Kilpatrick to the north, linking Renfrewshire to West Dunbartonshire. It connects the M898 / A898 road from the M8 motorway in the south to the A82 (Great Western Road) in the north. Built between 1967 and 1971 by Freeman Fox, it was opened by HRH The Princess Royal on 2nd July, 1971, and today bears approximately 26,000 crossings per day.
This box girder bridge with cable stays is 524m (1720 feet) in length, not including the two approach spans of 68m (224 feet) each. The masts of the main span are 38m (125 feet) high, while the steelwork weighs some 11,000 tonnes and runs a length of more than 1310m (4300 feet).
Once a toll-bridge, with a single tariff regardless of the size of vehicle, the tolls were abolished in 2006. In 1996, the bridge was damaged by an oil rig which was being towed under it, resulting in partial closure for almost four months.
