RISING FORTH
This article describes the erection of the superstructure of the Forth Bridge in Scotland between 1886 and 1890. With this bridge, the designer and engineer Sir Benjamin Baker had the opportunity to implement his ideas on long span bridges; it used a new material, steel, two spans of unprecedented length, and a new structural form, the cantilever. Its cantilever enabled the bridge to be self-supporting at all stages of construction, and presented the smallest area to wind at the centre span, where gusts could be most intense. However, this design could never have been achieved without the ingenuity of the engineer Sir William Arrol, who developed a range of rivetting and drilling machines, powered by steam or hydraulics, for the use in the fabrication yards and on the bridge itself. Steel fabrication, apart from rolling the plates themselves, was done on the shore. As the towers rose, the bottom booms of the cantilevers were built out equally on each side. The gaps between the three completed cantilevers were bridged by building suspended spans from each side until their halves met in the middle. A century later, the bridge is still in excellent condition, and needs only a rolling programme of repainting and modest repairs. (TRRL)
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03077683
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Corporate Authors:
Thomas Telford Limited
London, United Kingdom -
Authors:
- FOWLER, D
- Publication Date: 1990-3-8
Language
- English
Media Info
- Pagination: p. 30-33
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Serial:
- NEW CIVIL ENGINEER
- Issue Number: 886
- Publisher: EMAP CONSTRUCT LIMITED
- ISSN: 0307-7683
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Bridge design; Bridge superstructures; Bridges; Cantilevers; History; Structural design
- Geographic Terms: Scotland
- ITRD Terms: 3450: Cantilever; 9096: History; 3465: Metal bridge; 4542: Steel; 8119: United Kingdom
- Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; History;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00612440
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
- Files: ITRD, TRIS
- Created Date: Aug 31 1991 12:00AM