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The £790m main construction contract went to a mainly foreign owned consortium, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC), which includes Hochtief of Germany, Dragados of Spain and American Bridge of the USA, as well as Morrison Construction, which at least used to be Scottish.
Steel is being sourced in China, Poland and Spain.
And cement and admixture materials are coming from England – from Aggregate Industries.
Project client Transport Scotland has sought to reassure those nationalists of a chauvinistic nature, however, by issuing a statement that ready-mix pre-batched concrete will be supplied from two local businesses for the many small quantity concrete works associated with the bridge approach roads.
The first of these is with Tarmac, from its facilities in South Gyle and Livingston, which will supply works on the south side of the Forth.
The second supplier is the Skene Group, from its facilities in Fife, for the works on the north side of the Forth.
A subcontract for aggregates supply for the concrete to be used in the main bridge has been awarded to Tarmac from the Revelrig Quarry, West Lothian and facilities in Lanarkshire.
In fact, 870 out of 1,041 supply orders awarded on the principal contract have already gone to Scottish companies, said Scottish infrastructure secretary Alex Neil.
In a bid to quell growing political unease over procurement on the project, Mr Neil said: "The FRC project is delivering and will continue to deliver real benefits for Scottish businesses and Scottish workers. It will support 1,200 Scottish jobs and secure an additional 3,000 more. Construction will deliver an annual average of 45 vocational training positions, 21 professional body training places and 46 positions for the long term unemployed, as well as providing further scope to maximise Modern Apprenticeship opportunities.
"FCBC are building the biggest transport infrastructure project in Scotland for a generation, on time and on budget. Their supply chain and subcontracts are commercial matters however, we recognise the recent public interest and these latest deals are clear evidence that Scottish firms will benefit from the FRC.
"We are currently nine months into a six year construction period and there are many more subcontracts from the Principal Contract to come. 118 Scottish firms have already risen to the challenge of working on this iconic project – and the total value to Scottish firms is around £20m with more to be announced. In addition, 870 out of 1,041 supply orders awarded on the principal contract have already gone to Scottish companies.”
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