Work is continuing on the £1.4 billion Queensferry Crossing project, Transport Scotland has announced.

Over a quarter of the bridge deck is now in place.

The operation to lift the 750 tonne deck sections into place began in September.

Overall, 36 out of 122 sections are now secured in place.

Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown visited the build site today, 15 December to get an update on the projects progress.

"This has been another strong year of progress on the Forth Replacement Crossing," he said.

"The spectacular deck fans around each tower – formed by the stay cables which support the new deck sections – are now dominating the view of the Forth and the form of the finished bridge is rapidly taking shape.

"Everywhere you look major milestones are being reached and significant progress being made. To name a few examples, concreting has been completed on the three towers, the south viaduct is complete with the concrete now being poured to complete the deck, final preparations are being made for the imminent launch of the north viaduct and great strides have been taken on the complex new and upgraded road networks to the south and north of the Forth.

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"All of this is being achieved despite 2015 being remarkable in terms of adverse weather conditions occurring right throughout the year."

In addition, Mr Brown mentioned the closure of the Forth Road Bridge until the new year 'brought into sharp focus' the need for a new crossing over the Forth, identifed in Transport Scotland's Forth Replacement Crossing 2006 study.

"Responding to that study Ministers announced our intention to build a new cable stayed bridge by 2016. This challenging timescale was identified as necessary at the time due to the potential for future restrictions on the Forth Road Bridge," he added.

"The project team are taking the chance to carry out works on and around the A90 near to the Forth Road Bridge when the closure is in place. This aims to minimise the impact and potential disruption to road users in future months.

"I am pleased to report the project remains on schedule and significantly under budget thanks to the Scottish Government's diligent project management and the expertise and hard work of our contractors."

(LM/CD)