Forth Road Bridge

The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the largest suspension bridge in the world outside the USA. It replaced a centuries-old ferry service to carry vehicular traffic, cyclists and pedestrians across the Forth. The importance of the crossing for vehicular traffic was underpinned when the Great Britain road numbering scheme was drawn up in the 1920s. The planners wished the arterial A9 road to be routed across the Forth here, although the unwillingness to have a ferry crossing as part of this route led to the A90 number being assigned instead. The bridge’s central main span is 1,006 metres long, its two side spans are each 408 metres long, and the approach viaducts are 257 and 438 metres, so the total length is 2,512 metres. The bridge is made of 39,000 tonnes of steel and 115,000 cubic metres of concrete, the towers reach 156 metres above mean water level.