Wikipedia:Peer review/Forth Road Bridge/archive1

Forth Road Bridge

I have done a lot of work on this article - the subject of an awful lot of news in Scotland right now - to try and bring it up to a high standard, discussing its physical and political importance. A successful self-nomination as a good article was made last week and more work done since then. Erath 14:50, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

• What's there is very good (good prose, excellent references, useful and attractive photos). I think, however, that there's a great deal that could be added. Off the top of my head I'm thinking:
  • A map showing the major roads of eastern central Scotland, which is needed I think to show the economic importance and utility of the bridge (and concomitently the great cost of its being unavailable). If the map showed as far east as Stirling and as far North as Dundee it should show what a pain either using the Kincardine crossing and the A985 or the A977, or the A9. I can make such a map, but unfortunately not for another month or so.
  • I think some mention of the impact of the bridge's construction on the economies and town plans of southern Fife should be made; I believe Dalgety Bay was constructed largely in anticipation of the bridge, and I guess a lot of the economic growth of Dunfermline (and the residential growth in much of Fife) can be attributed to the bridge.
  • It would be nice to see a photo of the bridge during construction; perhaps the local historical societies can help?
  • A photo of the toll plaza in the rush hour would do a lot to illustrate the issue of congestion; right now we say the bridge is congested with vehicles but none of our photos shows a vehicle.
  • A graph showing both the tolls and the annual traffic numbers, with years as the horizontal axis would be informative; if those data are available I can draw the graph.
  • A small in-car photo of the tollbooth (with the blue toll sign) would make a nice illustration for the tolls section of the article.
  • A photo of the old ferry would be nice (again, perhaps the historical society can help)
  • The table showing the proposed variable-toll scheme should be floated right, as it's eating a lot of vertical space. Perhaps the text could be colour-coded, or perhaps a diagram could be produced (perhaps a clockface-like piechart, showing the different toll regimes as different coloured pieslices). I could probably draw that too, if folks think it's a good idea.

-- Finlay McWalter | Talk 16:57, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

The table has now been colour-coded and right-aligned. At least another couple of pictures will hopefully be forthcoming, but there probably isn't space in the article for them all. Erath 12:27, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

• Placing an illustration atthe end of the section preceding the one it is meant to illustrate is poor layout. If it is supposed to illustrate the section it is, then move it up.
• If the ultimate goal is featuring,then you'll need to expand the lead

Circeus 01:49, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

• The pictures have been reorganised accordingly - I've had a go at the lead too. Erath 11:46, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

• What is the significance of being awarded Historic Scotland's Category A listed structure status? Is Historic Scotland an authority on architecture or heritage value? A map showing the bridges relationship with the two communities (especially Edinburgh) it connects would be nice. Can the potential impacts/consequences of the proposed expansion/twinning be expanded? Specifically, there is more to the opposition than a desire not to see increased traffic and more to the support position than wanting to see a replacement for a 40 year old bridge. --maclean25 19:01, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
  • There's really not much significance of it's being a grade A listed building. Unlike the comparable listing scheme in England, pretty much any building that Wikipedia would consider "notable" seems to be grade A. I once tried to make a list in Listed_building#Scotland with categories similar to that found in Listed_building#Famous_listed_buildings (which are all in England), but couldn't find much in any of the lower categories. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 10:43, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

• How about something beyond the structural and political? The bridge must play quite an important part in social and cultural sphere of that part of Scotland, though I admit that all I can think of at the moment is an intermittantly dire Iain Banks novel. --zippedmartin 10:23, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
  • The Bridge is (kinda-sorta) based on the neighbouring Forth Bridge (railway). While the rail bridge certainly is a cultural and national icon, the boring old road bridge really isn't. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 10:30, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
    • Fair enough then, but 12 million cars a year is a lot of commuters, perhaps it's not as glamorous, but there's got to be something to say about it beyond the purely practical. --zippedmartin 13:21, 20 March 2006 (UTC)