Aerial view from the South West of the area of land at Fife where the bridge connects.

Description Aerial view from the South West of the area of land at Fife where the bridge connects.

Date 1988

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number A 55761

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 728426, SC 1678934

Scope and Content Aerial view of North Queensferry and viaduct leading to the Forth Bridge, Edinburgh and Fife The Forth Bridge was built between 1883 and 1890 to designs by engineers Sir John Fowler (1817-98) and Sir Benjamin Baker (1840-1907) with Sir William Arrol (1839-1913) and Joseph Phillips as contractors. This massive steel railway viaduct features three double cantilevers connected by girders with a total span of 2.5 km. This shows the village of North Queensferry and the four masonry piers which support the approach viaduct of the bridge. These are built from Aberdeen granite and have joints between the blocks no more than 4mm thick. The railway is carried onto the bridge on steel girders with diagonal wind bracings. The hard granite stonework of the bridge requires very little maintenance due to its high quality construction, but some areas were sand-blasted clean in the late 1980s. The main stone piers which support the cantilevers are hollow, and weighted with stone and concrete to support the vast weight of the cantilevers at the outer ends. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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