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| World Heritage Site via The Forth Bridges |
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| Alasdair Binns shared Stuart Cameron's post Two icons of Scottish Engineering heritage, paddle steamer Waverley passing under the Forth Bridge - note the commuter train on the left side helps to give you a perspective on the size of the bridge - if you haven't seen it ' in the flesh' |
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| Warships.cz posted #battleship HMS Nelson passes under the Forth Bridge on her way to the Thomas W Ward shipyard for scrapping in Inverkeithing on 16 March 1949 in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, United Kingdom |
Kenny Henderson posted two images with the comment: "Forth Bridge, I've always wondered if this is such an engineering marvel why wasn't the design copied or was it copied and this type of bridge built anywhere else in the world?"
Kenny Henderson shared
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| Bridges Now and Then posted "The upturned hull of the Imperial German Navy Kaiser class battleship the SMS Konig Albert which had been scuttled at Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow following the armistice at the end of World War One and then raised passes under the Forth Bridge towed by tugboats on her way to being scrapped at the Metal Industries Ltd shipbreaking yard on 5 May 1936 at Gare Loch, Faslane, Scotland, United Kingdom." (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Gavin Mcadam: Wee correction, folks: the wreck was towed to Rosyth for breaking up. Rosyth is close to the Forth Bridge, seen in the picture, and is on the east coast of Scotland. Faslane is on the west coast of Scotland, miles away. |
Among the most famous bridges in the world, the Forth Rail Bridge was the longest cantilever truss bridge in the world when it was completed in 1890. The 1917 Quebec Bridge in Canada is the only bridge to have surpassed its span among cantilever truss bridges. Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker designed the Forth Rail Bridge and construction began in 1882. It is unique for its use of massive tubular members and is also one of the first large-scale uses of steel in bridges rather than wrought iron. [Historic Bridges]
This is another significant bridge that is so famous that I haven't bothered to document it. But this construction photo post allows me to add to what you can find by Googling.
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| Glasgow City Archives posted #OnThisDay [March 4] in 1890 the Forth Rail Bridge was opened by the Prince of Wales. Built by Sir William Arrol & Co, the bridge took seven years to complete and at its peak employed approximately 4,600 workers in its construction. It was the largest steel bridge in the world at the time. Ref: T-HL294 William Craig: 57 Men lost their lives during it's construction. [There are many more interesting comments.] Alasdair Binns shared |
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| Chris Stewart commented on William Craig's comment This is the monument built underneath the bridge on the North side, naming all the men who died and their trades, the structure from underneath is amazing. |
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| John Short posted I'm still progressing my ambition to recreate the Magic Lantern Slide show, complete with original script of the 1889 building of the Forth Rail Bridge. The slides are now all scanned so I thought I would share with you Slide 10 " End of Shore Cantilever". The original text :- It will be noticed that the two arms of the central cantilever are equally weighted, each having to support one half the burden of the central girder extending from it, but apparently those of the Fife and Queensferry cantilevers, while built almost symmetrically, are not in an equally balanced state, for they have no girders or half-girders to keep down the shore ends. The absence of this is compensated for, and equilibrium re-established by making these outside arms IO feet longer and, in addition, by holding them down by means of huge bolts built into the masonry, so contrived as to admit of the sliding movement caused by the contraction and expansion of the bridge, but resisting vertical movement as they are anchored down to a mass weighing over 1000 tons. Provision has had to be made at the extremity of each cantilever arm for the safe adjustment of the rails, when, owing to expansion caused by a great rise in temperature, the ends of two adjacent arms have moved nearer to each other by say one foot. To lay rails in the ordinary manner at these poi ts, where the whole expansion due to one arch is concentrated, would only bring about consequences similar to what took place in the first railways, when the science of rail laying was not understood, At that time the rails were laid butting close against each other, with the result that on a warm day, as there was no provision made for expansion longitudinally, the rails were forced up into a series of arches, with their chairs and sleepers hanging to them. In the Forth Bridge the expansion is allowed for, at the points named, by making the joints on a long slant, each end forming a pointed wedge, which is pushed by elongation past the other point, so that the fact of these taper-pointed rails projecting a few inches more or less past each· other will make no difference to the continuity of the rails or their fitness to allow of railway traffic being conducted smoothly over them. |
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| John Short posted The first slide in th presentation by George Washington Wilson of the building of the Forth Bridge. The text below is from the presentation in 1890 explaining the building of the bridge. Longitudinal Section. The decision to build a bridge connecting Edinburgh directly with the North, has been the result of the keen competition between the two leading Scottish railways along with their several allies, the English Trunk lines. This is by no means a new idea however, for, at the beginning of this century, a company was attempted to be floated in Edinburgh to build a viaduct on the exact site of the present gigantic structure. The chances for the company being a paying one may be imagined when it is stated that the capital of the company was to be one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, whereas the present bridge, constructed with the aid of the best and latest inventions in material and labour-saving tools, has cost, with approaches, from first to last, some three and a half million pounds-though the estimated cost before starting was less by £ I ,850,000. The Forth being exceedingly deep, it was resolved to bridge it at Queensferry, opposite the Island of Inchgarvie, so as to take advantage of it for the foundations of the central pier. The depth of water in the divisions of the Forth on each side (200 feet) made it necessary that the adjacent piers should be close to the land on each bank ; and, as the Board of Trade stipulated that the shipping plying up and down the Estuary should be in no way hampered, the spans had to provide sufficient headway to permit the tallest-masted vessel afloat to pass through. The height fixed on, 150 feet clear of the water, amply allows of this, while two giant strides, of I7IO feet each, from Inchgarvie to the Fife and Midlothian sides, made it possible to found the side canti levers in comparatively shallow water. |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Title-"Forth Bridge - Fife S.W. skewback & tubes in construction, 7 Sept. 1886" "Description Photograph of a 'skewback' and tubes in construction. Relative proportions of the men and their work in this view afford an admirable illustration of the remarkable dimensions of the Bridge. The five tubes shown represent the bottom members, the vertical column, and two struts 8 feet in diameter. The bottom member on the right hand side is part of the first length of the span, and is continued at this angle until it meets first tie. Surrounding one or more of these tubes will be noticed a cylindrical cage composed of angle iron, hoops and bars, and protected by a fine mesh wire netting. To the upper part of these cages were bolted iron straps passing up and connected to the lower side of lifting girder, so that when the latter ascended it carried up the cage along with it. These cages, within which all the riveting of the vertical columns was effected, were designed to ensure the safety of the workmen, for which purpose they proved invaluable. The depth of each cage was sufficient to admit of a 16 feet plate being riveted up without a hoist, the working space allowed between tube and netting being 4 feet. The difference of shades upon the horizontal tube in the foreground of picture is only due to the fact that it was being used at that date as a suitable surface for testing various samples of light coloured paint. Transcription from: Philip Phillips, 'The Forth Railway Bridge', Edinburgh, 1890." (National Library of Scotland) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted "The Forth Bridge under construction in 1888 Photographer: Alexander A Inglis (Scottish Colorfoto Collection) Date: 23 June 1888 Format: Glass plate negative" |
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| Charlie Gilbert posted Late 19th century railroad bridge across the Firth of Forth into and out of Edinburgh. Paul Alan shared [Some comments indicate that this is the first major structure in Britain to be constructed of steel. Its contemporary, the Eiffel Tower, was still built with iron. Some comments claim this bridge was the replacement for the Tay Bridge. But I doubt that since this bridge was over the Firth of Forth estuary and the Tay Bridge was over the River Tay.] |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The ferry John Beaumont is seen at Queensferry, Scotland, in front of the Forth Rail Bridge, c. 1890. |
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| Highway Engineering Discoveries posted Forth Bridge |
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| John O'Mara commented on GCA's post Truly amazing piece of engineering, fortunate to have visited the viewing platform on the north tower. |
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| John O'Mara commented on his own comment |
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| Alistair Paul commented on GCA's post Photo by my late uncle Jim |
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| Frank Love commented on GCA's post |
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| Zigmars Katlaps, Oct 2020 |
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| Bob Frasco posted Another view of the Forth Rail Bridge, Firth of Forth, Edinburgh, Scotland. An engineering marvel. David Denenberg My photos from an authorized visit to the top of the northernmost tower in September 2019: https://www.bridgemeister.com/pic.php?pid=2720 |
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| Antoni Gual Via commented on Bob's post |
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| David Denenberg commented on Antoni's comment |
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| David Denenberg commented on Bob's post Taken by me, September 20, 2019 from the top of the northernmost tower, with train passing below. |
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| David Denenberg commented on his comment The view in the other direction |
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| David Denenberg commented on Bob's post The original image in this post has a bit of forced perspective. The Forth bridge had the longest main span of any bridge in the world when it was completed and still has the second longest cantilever spans (after the Quebec bridge). Normal perspective from a distance, taken by me in 1995: |
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| David Denenberg commented on Bob's post A rare view of the bridge… from the top of the adjacent Forth Road suspension bridge. Taken by me, Aug. 9, 2014: |
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| David Denenberg commented on his post Beautiful view from up there. Looking a bit toward Edinburgh. |
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| Toilets With Threatening Auras posted Francisco Lacy shared David Denenberg That’s the famous Firth of Forth rail bridge. I was able to take some track-level photos in 2019 but didn’t spot this particular accommodation. https://www.bridgemeister.com/pic.php?pid=2721 |
This is just before it goes under the south tower.
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Screenshot Forth Bridge like you've never seen it before ... This AIVR (Automated Intelligent Video Review) system captures video data from across the rail network to monitor conditions, plan remotely, and reduce site visits.Thanks to our Signalling Innovations Group, Asset Information Services and One Big Circle Ltd. |
As it first entered the portal to the south cantilever span.
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| John Short posted a YouTube link for a 26:59 video For those that are engineers, techies or just interested in how the magnificent Fourth Rail Bridge was built I've produced this video of the original photographs and lecture from 1889. I hope is some small way it is a tribute to the 56 workers that lost their lives in its construction. |
Neil Groves posted eight photos with the comment: "Just a few pics of thr Forth railway bridge, I always marvel at this bridge plus the two road bridges, also the ferry slipway which ran for 900 years until 1964 👍"
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