Last month I was fortunate to be invited on a tour of the Forth Bridge. After a short briefing by one of the engineers who works on the bridge (“Oh and I have to ask, is anyone afraid of heights?”) I walked with a small group of other visitors to the foot of the North Queensferry cantilever.
(This photo is from http://www.railtravelcenter.com/Gallery4-35.htm)
From there a shaky little winch lift took us to the top.
Read on …
It was surprisingly quiet and calm at the top, early on a Sunday morning. There’s a large platform, just scaffolding and floorboards, which is a base for the engineers and painters. We saw the abseil equipment used by the painters. One painter told me how the steel, even when it’s been poorly painted and exposed, is still as good as when it was first build in 1890, such was the quality of steel used. One of the group remarked on a manhole in one of the giant main tubes. Oh yes, said the painter, there are ladders inside – and 120 years of pigeon shit!
There’s a full album of my photos here, but here are two more short and shaky videos.