The Forth Road Bridge

607 Words3 Pages
The Forth Bridge is one of the most important engineering structures in the world, and symbolises Scotland's rise to industrial prominence in the late 19th century. In addition to applying the cantilever principle on a giant scale, it also was one of the first bridges to use mild steel, which had become more widely available in sufficient quality and quantity as a result of the development of the Siemens Martin process. The forth road bridge is located in Scotland and is connecting Fife and the North of Scotland with capital city Edinburgh. The bridge was designed and supervised by Mott Hay and Anderson and Sir Freeman Fox and Partners, with the work was carried out by a consortium of the three largest construction firms in Britain at that time - Sir William Arrol & Company, The Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and Dorman Long ( Bridge and Engineering). Constriction started in 1958. Up to 400 men have worked on the bridge sometimes in very dangerous conditions with winds up to 100mph. Three men lost their lives - others were saved by the terylene safety nets suspended beneath them. It took 39,000 tons of steel, 30,800 miles of wire in the suspension cables, and is 163ft above the river at its highest point. Some 39,000 tons of steel and 115,000 cubic metres of concrete were used in the construction. The total cost of the bridge including the approach roads consisting of 13 kilometres of dual carriageway, 13 kilometres of minor access roads and 24 minor bridges was £19,500,000 (~£250,000,000 today). The bridge has a main span of 1006 metres between the two main towers. The side spans which carry the deck to the side towers are each 408 metres long. The approach viaducts are 252 metres and 438 metres long on the north and south sides respectively. The two main aerially spun cables from which the suspended deck is hung are 590 mm in diameter, and each is made

More about The Forth Road Bridge

Open Document