IT IS often said if you want to know how successful a city is then look to see how many building cranes there are around it.

There are plenty in this picture as work continues on the beginnings of what was to be the Kingston Bridge.

This is the scene on the north side of the River Clyde at Anderston. Concrete supports extend upward, while in the distance can be seen the old Co-op building on the south side of the river, along with shipping cranes that were still in use at the Broomielaw.

Work began on the bridge in 1967 and this picture is from November of that year.

It would be another three years, June 1970, before the structure was opened to traffic and at peak hours, it is now one of the busiest sections of road in Europe.

The 10-lane bridge is estimated to carry more than 160,000 vehicles a day.

Over the years there have been various repairs and refurbishments of the bridge. Some of these have been followed by reports that the works may discover the bodies of notorious criminals who disappeared in the late 1960s, possibly murdered, and that their remains have been buried in the concrete support piers or foundations of the bridge.

No trace of remains have ever been found, so it seems each investigation has run into a stone wall.