Forth Rail Bridge
General Information
| Structural Type: |
Cantilever truss bridge
|
|---|---|
| Function / usage: |
Railroad (railway) bridge
|
| Other name(s): | Firth of Forth Bridge |
| Built: | 1882 - 1890 |
| Status: | in use |
Geographic Information & Related Structures
| Location: |
Queensferry, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe |
|---|---|
| Crosses |
|
| Next to |
Forth Road Bridge (1964)
|
Technical Information
Dimensions
| total length | 2.5 km | |
| tower height | 100.6 m | |
| main spans | 2 x 521 m |
Quantities
| structural steel | 58 000 t |
Materials
| truss |
steel
|
|---|
Chronology
| 4 March 1890 | Official opening by the Prince of Wales in the presence of Benjamin Baker and Gustave Eiffel. |
|---|---|
| 1935 | The movie "The Thirty-Nine Steps" by Alfred Hitchcock includes a typical suspense sequence on the Forth bridge. |
Notes
The bridge appears in the movie "The Thirty-Nine Steps" of 1935, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The suspense sequence shows some details of the bridge.
Fifty-seven men died building the bridge, while eight others were saved by safety boats under the structure.
Relevant Web Sites
-
A Span for All Seasons: Forth Rail Bridge (1)
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archINFORM: Firth of Forth Bridge
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BBC News: Fresh coat for historic bridge (7.3.2002)
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BBC News: Human toll of an iconic crossing (24.07.2005)
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Bernd Nebel: Brücken: Brücken in Europa: Eisenbahnbrücke über den Firth of Forth
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Bridge design & engineering: Charity makeover for Forth Rail Bridge
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Bridge design & engineering: Forth Rail Bridge drawings go under the hammer
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Bridge design & engineering: Forth Rail Bridge kicks off new coin series
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Bridge Pros: Firth of Forth Bridge
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Forth Bridges Visitor Centre Trust
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Karl Gotsch: Brücken in Großbritannien
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PBS: Building Big - Firth of Forth Bridge
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Planète TP: Le pont d'Édimbourg
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René Pönitz: Die Fahrt nach Queensferry
-
The European Railway Picture Gallery: Bridges
Relevant Publications
- Bridging the Firth of Forth (IV), in "Engineering", 19 August 1887
- Bridging the Firth of Forth (III), in "Engineering", 12 August 1887
- Bridging the Firth of Forth (I), in "Engineering", 29 July 1887
- Bridging the Firth of Forth (II), in "Engineering", 5 August 1887
- Bridging the Firth of Forth (V), in "Engineering", 26 August 1887
- Great Buildings of the World: Bridges, Paul Hamlyn, New York (USA), 1969; pp. 110-120
- The Tower and the Bridge, Princeton University Press, Princeton (USA), ISBN 069102393X, 1983; pp. 118-122
- La torre y el puente, CINTER, Madrid (Spain)
- Brücken, Karl Robert Langewiesche Verlag, Königstein im Taunus (Germany), 1956; pp. 91-92
- Complex cover-up, in "Bridge Design & Engineering", 2nd Quarter 2007, n. 47 v. 13
- A lifetime's work, in "Bridge Design & Engineering", 4th Quarter 2003, n. 33 v. 9
- Bridges, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York (USA), ISBN 002517455X, 1993; pp. 72-73
- L'architecture et les ingénieurs, Moniteur, Paris (France), ISBN 2281190994, 1997; pp. 107
- Bridges, Black Dog & Leventhal, New York (USA), ISBN 1884822754, 1997; pp. 58-59
- Brücken, Könemann, Cologne (Germany), ISBN 3829004095, 1998; pp. 58-59
- Les ponts, Könemann, Cologne (Germany), ISBN 3829004109; pp. 58-59
- Brücken, die die Welt verbinden, Prestel, Munich (Germany), ISBN 3791327003, 2002; pp. 76-77
- Bridges that Changed the World, Prestel, Munich (Germany), ISBN 3791327011, 2002; pp. 76-77
- Two Railway Bridges of an Era, Birkhäuser, Basel (Switzerland), 1992
- Fixing the Blame, in "Technology and Culture", July 2004, n. 3 v. 45
- Bridge Across the Century, Moubray House, Edinburgh (United Kingdom), ISBN 0948473002, 1990
- Battle for the North, Granta Books, London (United Kingdom), ISBN 1862078521, 2006
- L'art de l'ingénieur, Éditions du Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (France), ISBN 2858509115, 1997; pp. 190-192
- Eisenbahnbrücken aus zwei Jahrhunderten, Birkhäuser, Basel (Switzerland), ISBN 3764316772, 1985; pp. 230-233
- Les grands ponts du monde: Ponts remarquables d'Europe, Brissaud, Poitiers (France), ISBN 2902170653, 1990; pp. 269
- Le Passage (1st edition), Everest Communication, Luxembourg (Luxembourg), ISBN 287996976X, 1999; pp. 166-167
- John Fowler, Benjamin Baker Forth Bridge, Edition Axel Menges, Stuttgart (Germany), ISBN 3930698188, 1997
- Buiding bridges, Beton-Verlag, Düsseldorf (Germany), ISBN 3764001763, 1984
Internal Information
| Structure-ID: | s0000024 |
|---|---|
| Created: | 28/10/1998 |
| Last Updated: | 21/05/2013 |
