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Forth Bridge

railway bridge in eastern Scotland

AI overview

The Forth Bridge is a railway bridge in eastern Scotland that carries trains across the Firth of Forth. It is an important transportation link that connects different parts of Scotland by enabling rail travel across this major body of water.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Os grid reference: NT 13554 79252
Carries: Rail traffic
Crosses: Firth of Forth
Locale: Edinburgh , Inchgarvie and Fife , Scotland
Other name: Forth Rail Bridge
Named for: River Forth
Owner: Network Rail
Maintained by: Balfour Beatty under contract to Network Rail
Preceded by: Forth Road Bridge
Design: Cantilever bridge
Material: Steel
Total length: 8,094 feet (2,467 m)
Width

Article

The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, 9 miles (14 kilometres) west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016), and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed by English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge (to distinguish it from the adjacent Forth Road Bridge), although this is not its official name.

Construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay, the future Edward VII. The bridge carries the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line across the Forth between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry and has a total length of 2,467 metres (8,094 ft). When it opened it had the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world, until 1919 when the single 1,801 ft (549 m) span Quebec Bridge in Canada was completed. It continues to be the world's second-longest single cantilever span, with two spans of 1,709 feet (521 m).