The Forth Rail Bridge is a cantilever, railway bridge over the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland and 14 km (9 miles) west of central Edinburgh. The bridge connects Scotland's capital Edinburgh with the Kingdom of Fife.
Described as "the one internationally recognised Scottish landmark",the bridge is, even today, regarded as an engineering marvel at 2.5 km (1.5 miles) in length.
At its peak, approximately 4,600 workers were employed in its construction. Initially, it was recorded that 57 lives were lost however, the figure has been revised upwards to 98. Eight men were saved by boats positioned in the river under the working the bridge.
More than 55,000 tons of steel were used, as well as 18,122 m³ of granite and over eight million rivets. The bridge was opened on March 4, 1890.
The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge,
built in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh at
South Queensferry to Fife at North Queensferry. The toll bridge replaced a centuries-
The bridge carried around 2.5 million vehicles in its first year but the annual figure has risen steadily over time to around 11.8 million vehicles in 2004 alone. The bridge carried its 250 millionth vehicle in 2002.
New Forth Road Bridge
With a complete closure of the existing Forth Road Bridge predicted by approximately
2020 without drastic action, there is a threat of serious economic consequences.
Due to the strategic importance of the bridge in the Scottish transport network and
the estimated 10-
Proposals for an additional road crossing had initially been drawn up in the early 1990s, but met stiff opposition from environmentalists and from Edinburgh City Council on the grounds of the increased traffic it would generate.
A new cable-
Shown to the right is the proposed bridge. This is an artist’s impression shown with permission from www.transportscotland.gov.uk