Glover Site Investigations has been awarded a £2m contract to carry out marine investigations in the Forth estuary as part of the preliminary work on the Forth replacement crossing.

Working from two barges a team of up to 25 specialists will drill ten boreholes around the proposed base of the southern tower and approach piers, six in the vicinity of Beamer Rock - the proposed site of the central tower - and seven at the Northern tower and approach piers.

The investigations will provide information about geology beneath the seabed and will inform decisions about the location and type of bridge foundations used in the crossing.