Special envelope for opening of Forth Road Bridge

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

34225

Title

Special edition envelope for opening of Forth Road Bridge

Description

A special edition envelope printed for the opening of the Forth Road Bridge, 4th September 1964. The front of the envelope has a small line map in green of the two Forth bridges and the coast of North and South Queensferry, and a line drawing of the bridge. There are two stamps both with images of the bridge, and the date stamp, dated 4th September, has the an image of the bridge and the seal of the Royal Burgh of South Queensferry. The envelope is address to the Provost of Royal Burgh of Queensferry.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1964

Type

Document

Location

Queensferry Museum

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 is due to open in 2016.

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Related subjects

Places > Edinburgh areas > South Queensferry

Places > Edinburgh Landmarks > Forth Road Bridge

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh