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  Forth Railway Bridge  

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Uploaded: 02/13/07 8:58 PM GMT
Forth Railway Bridge
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I make this picture in 2002 during our trip to Scotland. Info Wikipedia:The 2.5 km. (1.5 mile) Forth Railway Bridge, the world’s first major steel bridge, with its gigantic girder spans of 521 m. (1710 ft.) ranks as one of the great feats of civilization. It was begun in 1883 and formally completed on 4 March 1890 when HRH Edward Prince of Wales tapped into place a ‘golden’ rivet.This concept is readily understood from Baker’s ‘human cantilever’ model with his assistant Kaichi Watanabe representing the live load. The pull in his supporters arms indicates the tension in the ties and the push in the lower struts the compression in the tubes. Each of the 110 m. (361 ft.) high double-cantilevers is supported on well-founded granite faced piers. The bridge’s construction involved the employment of 4,000 men at times, the use of 54,000 tonnes of steel and driving 6,500,000 rivets. Its total cost was £3,200,000 (~£235,000,000 today). During operations, rescue boats were stationed under each cantilever saving at least 8 lives, but still 57 men lost their lives. The continuous painting of its 18 ha. (45 acre) surface, for the first 100 years using paint supplied by Craig & Rose, is now being done using a state-of-the-art paint regime with at least a 20-year life.

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