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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
World
Lee Dalgetty

Incredible archive photos show Forth Road Bridge under construction

Construction of the Forth Road Bridge first began in 1958, with work carried out by three of Britain's largest engineering firms.

Nearly 40,000 tonnes of steel and 125,000 cubic metres of concrete went into the bridge's construction - though none of this is quite as impressive as the workers, who put their all into the one-and-a-half mile long structure.

It took a workforce of 400 people over three years to complete the bridge - seven of whom lost their lives.

Sir William Arrol & Company, The Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and Dorman Long Ltd joined forces to create the ACD Bridge Company, one of the biggest collaborations the engineering industry in the UK has seen.

The first proposals for a road bridge came in 1923 with the rising popularity of the personal car, and three possible sites for the structure as well as tunnel options were investigated.

The Great Depression and Second World War put the brakes on the plans, until Macintosh Rock was eventually chosen as the site in 1947.

By 1961, the main cable anchorages were completed; secured the rock on both sides and the two main towers.

The unique method of spinning wires to build up the main cable was new for Europe, with a special training school needed in South Queensferry.

By August 1962, 30,000 miles of steel wires had been spun together to make up the main cables.

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The Queen formally opened the bridge on September 4 1964, with the final bill for construction adding up to £19.5 million.

The bridge was given the motto ‘Guid passage’ - Scots for ‘good passage’.

At the time the Forth Road Bridge was the fourth longest in the world, and the longest outside the US.

Updates came in 1990, with the two main towers strengthened to handle the increased weight of traffic - with the tower legs strengthened in 1998.

A third bridge was discussed in the 90s, though it wasn’t until 2004 that solid commitments were made to the structure of what would eventually be named the Queensferry Crossing.

The Queen was present for the opening of the new crossing on September 4, 2017, 53 years to the day since Her Majesty opened the Forth Road Bridge.

Today, the Queensferry Crossing carries domestic traffic over the Forth, whilst the older bridge is limited to commercial vehicles.

Check out our photo gallery below to see the bridge in progress.

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