Bridges on the Firth of Forth

 

On the left is the Forth Road Bridge and on the right is the Forth Bridge which services the railroad. The Forth Bridge was built in 1890 and is 8,296' long. It is made of steel and actually expands to 3' longer in the summer than the winter.
It is twice as strong as it needs to be because the previous bridge, the TAY Bridge collapsed killing 100 people aboard the train as it traversed the bridge in 1879.
It took 5,000 men 7 years to complete the bridge and 57 men lost their lives while working on it. 51,000 pounds of steel and 6.5 million rivets were used to complete the 365' structure. 

Some boats have to wait until low tide to cross under the bridge. The white house in the middle of the
picture was used originally to let ships know if they could pass through. There was a blind area so 2 green lights
meant GO and 2 red lights STOP, now they have a better system.

The poles are 12' in diameter. 

This bridge currently has steel beams that are breaking inside the poles. They have attached microphones inside to help them identify any problems. They periodically check inside the poles
for damage.



This bridge will be ready for use in fall of 2016 all things being equal. It will take over the traffic from the Forth Road Bridge which then will only travel by buses.