Celebrated Great British landmark - Forth Rail Bridge 140 years on

USPA NEWS - The Forth Bridge was made with approximately 54000 tonnes of steel and 6.5 million rivets. The Forth Bridge is 1.6 miles (2.5km) long. The bridge has a speed limit of 50 MPH (80 km/h) for passenger trains and 20 MPH (32 km/h) for freight trains.

Forth Rail Bridge 140 years on - In August 1873 the North British Railway obtained authority to build a state of the art railway bridge across the Firth of Forth. Work on the foundations of the bridge began 10 years later in 1883. Designed by Sir John Fowler & Sir Benjamin Baker the cantilever style railway bridge was one of the first structures in Great Britain to be constructed of steel. After several years of construction and 57* worker fatalities the bridge was ready and in May 1890 it was opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII).

*After research by local historians, the figure was increased to 63.

Painting the Forth Rail Bridge - The painting of the Forth Bridge was finally completed in 2011 and the structure is now scaffold-free for the first time in a decade. The repair and repainting project on the rail bridge took 10 years and cost £130m. A 400-strong team applied a triple layer of new glass flake epoxy paint. The completion of this refurbishment will safeguard the future of one of the country´s most famous landmarks.“Painting the Forth Bridge“ has become a popular term for a never-ending task. Network Rail is examining the idea of building a viewing platform for visitors to be hoisted more than 300ft to the top of the bridge. (Source: BBC)

Forth Bridge Coordinates 56.000421°N 3.388726°W

Fact file

- The bridge was formally opened by the Prince of Wales on 4 March 1890
- The construction of the bridge resulted in an unbroken East Coast railway from London to
Aberdeen
- The bridge is 2,467 metres long, with 53,000 tonnes of steel and 6.5 million rivets
120,000 cubic yards of concrete and masonry make up the piers which are faced with 2ft
thick granite
- Network Rail painted an area of 230,000 sq metres, using 240,000 litres of paint and
installed 1,040 lights with 35,000 ““ 40,000 metres of cabling
- 200 trains a day use the bridge and 3 million passengers a year

Source: networkrail.co.uk