West of Edinburgh, spanning the Firth of Forth between South
Queensferry and North Queensferry.
This
structure is a great undulating steel monster rising out
of the estuary that is formed by the Forth river as it slowly
spreads out toward the North Sea. "Monster" is an appropriate
word, because this bridge has the looks of a beast, and
the strength to back it up. It is considered one of the
strongest, most stable, and most expensive bridges in history.
That came out of necessity. The bridge was built after the
span across the Firth of Tay collapsed, killing 75 people
on a train in the middle of the night. Engineers and planners
needed to cross the Forth, but had to do it in a way that
would be acceptable to a public still shocked by what was
then the worst bridge disaster in history. What they came
up with wasn't merely another cantilever-truss bridge. What
they put together was a marvel of Victorian engineering,
and a span so overbuilt that it barely moves in even the
heaviest wind, even though a certain amount of sway is expected
in most large structures. This is achieved by using steel
plate tubes with internal braces. The most stout of these
building members are 12-feet in diameter. Its nearly exclusive
use of steel, combined with its latticework appearance have
made some people refer to it as the "Eiffel Tower of Scotland."
1883
- Construction begins on the bridge 4 March,
1890
- The then-Prince of Wales drives the last rivet into
place. It was gold plated and is inscribed. He would later
go on to become King Edward VII.
57
people lost their lives building the Forth of Firth bridge.
The
bridge is held together by nearly 7,000,000 rivets.
The
bridge is made from 54,000 tons of steel.
The bridge is made from 194,000 cubic yards of granite.
The bridge is made from 21,000 tons of cement.
The
bridge rests on three piers, 70-feet in diameter.
Each
of these piers descends up to 90 feet into the earth before
resting on bedrock.
The
bridge is designed to stand up to wind forces as high
as 56 pounds per square foot.
Visitor Comments:
From
James magnuson - 22 December, 2002:
My great grandfather, George Fowler, died in 1892 from caissons disease.
During his first two years work on the Forth Bridge, he worked under
compressed air down in the caisoons. Remarkably, we have a photo of
him down in a caisson. In Mackay's book, "The Forth Bridge" p. 53,
there's our family's George holding onto the hydraulic jack. My grandfather
said that his father, George, worked "until the last rivet was driven"
but that when the bridge was dedicated his father was in such physical
shape, he never wanted to see the bridge again. In our family, we
call the bridge, "The George Fowler Memorial Bridge." It's a magnificent
structure.
From
Robert J. Allen - 27 January, 2003
Iwas searching for a town that does not appear in my Atlas -- Craigellachie,
Arberlour and could not find it. Leave it to Google to find it in
terms of a Hotel Craigellachie. While looking as scenes from that
marvellous area in the Highlands, I decided to take a look (via Google)
for Firth of Forth Bridge. As a Naval Officer, I served aboard a ship,
USS Northampton and while in Firth of Forth, one of our motor launches
went aground right at the Bridge. Itwas on Sept. 12, 1955. I happen
to know that because I still have copy of The Scottish Daily Mail
of the next day with documentation of our embarrassing incident. At
any rate, I seem to remember that the Inn where I was waiting til
the tides shifted enough to float it off was the same Inn where Robert
Louis Stevenson started to pen his "Treasure Island." I loved my time
in Scotland --Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and hope to return with
my wife someday. Best to all with memories of Firth of Forth and its
famous Bridge. Bob Allen
James magnuson - 22 December, 2002: