Order of Proceedings for the Driving of the First Pile

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

34226

Title

Order of Proceedings for the Driving of the First Pile

Description

A sheet, folded in half, with the order of proceedings for the ceremonial Driving of the First Pile for the Forth Road Bridge, 21st November 1958. On the left is a list of the Platform Party members, and on the right is an order for the day.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1958

Type

Document

Location

Queensferry Museum

Accession number

QF564E

The Forth Road Bridge was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 4th September 1964 after six years of construction. The bridge was built to respond to increasing volume of traffic in the region. Prior to the bridge, the nearest crossing was the Kincardine Bridge upstream, or a ferry service linking North and South Queensferry.

The earliest recorded ferry service was instigated by Queen Margaret in the 11th century, and remained a largely uninterrupted passenger service for 800 years. Increasing pressure from the growing road infrastructure led to the creation of the Forth Road Bridge Joint Board by Act of Parliament in 1947, and construction started in September 1958.

The ferry service ceased operation the same day as the bridge was opened, and the next day saw the first public transport routes using the bridge to link Edinburgh with Fife and beyond.

By the 1990s increasing concerns about the structural wear and tear of the bridge led to the eventual agreement to begin construction, in September 2011, of a third bridge at Queensferry, named by public vote the Queensferry Crossing. This new road bridge opened in August 2017.

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Related subjects

Events > Ceremonies > Laying of foundation stone

Places > Edinburgh areas > South Queensferry

Places > Edinburgh Landmarks > Forth Road Bridge

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh