View from between the piers supporting the Queensferry erection seen from the South from the rescue boat. Digital image of B 3339 CN.

Description View from between the piers supporting the Queensferry erection seen from the South from the rescue boat. Digital image of B 3339 CN.

Date 9/9/1988

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

Catalogue Number SC 728337

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 3339 CN

Scope and Content Piers supporting the Queensferry section of 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 four of the circular stone piers which support the cantilever above. Metal girders with diagonal bracing can be seen between the steel tubes made from riveted panels. The rails are carried across the water on an internal viaduct within the complex structure. The piers were constructed using caissons, metal drums which are sunk down onto the riverbed like upturned cups before having their lower section filled with compressed air to keep out water. Workers were then admitted through airlocks to excavate deep into the river bed. Once the caissons had reached the required depth they were filled with concrete and the stone piers built up. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Medium Colour negative

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/728337

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap