Beyond sad to say goodbye to Scotland, but I know I’ll be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I feel like a good trip not only has you coming back with stories, pictures, and a full heart but possibly also with some really fantastic knowledge for pub trivia night. So I guess it would be fitting that my last glimpse of Scotland from the sky was of the 3 Bridges over the Firth of Forth.
Facts about the Forth’s 3 Bridges:
- The Forth Bridge opened in 1890 and was the first major steel construction in the UK.
- At 1.5 miles in overall length, it had the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world when opened in 1890; today it still has the second-longest span.
- This oxide-red Scottish icon served to connect 534 miles of uninterrupted train track from Aberdeen all the way down to London. And all these years later, it still does.
- Such has been the cultural impact and significance of this bridge that in 2015 – on its 125th anniversary – it was granted UNESCO world heritage status placing it alongside such greats as the Great Wall of China, the Acropolis, and the Taj Mahal.
- While the world of transportation has witnessed unimaginable advancements since 1890, the Forth Bridge remains largely unchanged and still carries 190–200 trains every day.
- The Road Bridge opened in 1964 and prior to that, there had only been a ferry service in operation between the two Queensferry towns straddling the Forth from the 11th century all the way through to 1964.
- In its final year of operation, this ferry service still only consisted of four small ferries plying the 1.5 miles across the Queensferry Passage. Departing every 15 minutes between 6 am and 10 pm, each ferry was only capable of carrying up to 30 cars each. And if you were to miss the last ferry of the day, the nearest bridge was 15 miles upstream in Kincardine.
- The Forth Road Bridge upon its opening was the longest suspension bridge in the world outside of the United States and bears a close and elegant resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge on which it was modeled. (Apparently, the architects had glossed over the far superior, longer, and much more famous suspension bridge the 5-mile long Mackinac Bridge which connects the two peninsulas.)
- Soon after opening, the number of vehicles crossing the Forth jumped from 900,000 to 5 million annually. At the time of the Forth Road Bridge’s construction, it was forecast the vehicle traffic across the Forth would peak at about 8 million.
- By 2008, the actual traffic exceeded 21 million annual vehicle crossings.
- The Queensferry Crossing opened exactly 53 years to the day after the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 2017.
- On the northern bank of the River Forth, the three Forth bridges are all built within one mile of each other.
- The Queensferry Crossing is the longest three-tower cable-stayed bridge in the world. Incorporating new construction technologies and wind shielding features to safeguard both the bridge and the vehicles it carries.
- This new bridge has been designed to last 120 years whilst facilitating a faster and smoother crossing of the Forth.
- Mike Glover, the bridge’s chief engineer, said the windscreens meant the chances of this bridge being closed by high winds were very remote: ‘If you can get to the bridge, you will cross it.’