Detailed view of the latticed steelwork bracing in the Fife erection.

Description Detailed view of the latticed steelwork bracing in the Fife erection.

Date 31/8/1988

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number B 3311 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 728342

Scope and Content Latticed steelwork bracings in Fife cantilever of 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 complex latticed steelwork which makes up the wind bracings within the cantilevers. Just visible in the lower part of the photograph are the railway tracks which are carried across the bridge on an internal viaduct. Some of the 6.5 million rivets used on the bridge are also visible. The engineer Thomas Bouch lost the contract for the Forth Bridge after his Tay Bridge collapsed with great loss of life in 1879. Public unease about the safety of rail travel over water led to the new design being one of remarkable strength and solidity. The engineer Sir Benjamin Baker described it as being 'stiff as a rock under the passage of a train'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Medium Colour negative

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