Located
9 miles (14 km) west of Edinburgh, the Forth Railway Bridge is a
remarkable cantilever structure which is still regarded as an
engineering marvel and is recognised the world over. The bridge was
built to carry the two tracks of the North British Railway the 1½ miles
(2½ km) over the Firth of Forth between South Queensferry and North
Queensferry, at a height of 46m (150 feet) above the high tide.
The
structure, with its three massive cantilever towers each 104m (340
feet) high, was designed by Sir John Fowler (1817-98) and Sir Benjamin
Baker (1840 - 1907) and constructed by Sir William Arrol (1839 - 1913)
at the cost of some £2½ million.
An
earlier project, to be executed by Sir Thomas Bouch (1822-90), for
which a foundation stone had been laid in 1873, was quickly cancelled
following the collapse of his Tay Rail Bridge in 1879.
The
new scheme began in 1883, and after seven years, 55,000 tonnes of
steel, 18,122 cubic metres (640,000 cubic feet) of granite, 8 million
rivets and with the loss of 57 lives, the bridge was complete. At the
opening ceremony on 4th March, 1890, the Prince of Wales (later King
Edward VII) drove home the last rivet, which was gold-plated and
inscribed to record the event.
The bridge
remains in regular use, carrying the main east coast line over to Fife
and eventually onwards to Dundee and Aberdeen, although the stresses
placed on the bridge by modern trains are much less than their much
heavier steam-powered predecessors.