View from the top of the Forth Road Bridge

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

34209

Title

View from the top of the Forth Road Bridge during construction

Description

Two construction workers making their way to the top of the platform on the south tower of the Forth Road Bridge with a view back down to the river and the south side span and approach viaduct with roadworks in the distance. Under the bridge can be seen the outskirts of South Queensferry.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1960

Type

Photograph

Location

Queensferry Museum

The two workers are climbing up the main cables holding the bridge. Each 24-inch cable is made of 37 'strands', which in turn are made up of 314 individual wires of galvanised steel. Each cable therefore contains 11,618 wires and a maximum load of 14,000 tons. The bridge has theoretical capacity of 30,000 vehicles a day in each direction.

By the 1990s increasing concerns about the structural wear and tear of the bridge and a regular exceeding of the maximum capacity 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 is due to open in 2016.

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Related subjects

Landscape > Water > Rivers and streams

Places > Edinburgh areas > South Queensferry

Places > Edinburgh Landmarks > Forth Road Bridge

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Bridges

Transport > Infrastructure > Road bridges