Twang!

Ahh . . . the mighty Forth Road Bridge!

Magnificent, isn't it?

A feat of civil engineering completed in 1964 connecting North Queensferry in Fife to South Queensferry and Edinburgh. It cost £11.5 million to build, was the fourth largest suspension bridge in the world when it was completed, and is now a Catagory A listed building.

. . . and it's fucked.

Yep, it's knackered, kaput, wasted, shagged, and whatever other adjective you wish to use to describe it's deteriorating condition.
The problem is the suspension cables themselves, which are made up of approximately 11,000 strands. Strands which are now snapping at the rate of one a month!

It's looking increasingly likely that HGV's will be banned from using the bridge from as early as 2013, and that another bridge will have to be built pretty damn sharpish.

The rail bridge, on the other hand (completed in 1890), is doing just fine.