Basic Site Details Name: | Forth Road Bridge | Town, district or village: | Firth of Forth | City or county: | | Country: | | Parish: | | Status: | A listed | Grid ref: | | Notes: | | Building Type ClassificationThe building is classified under the following categories: | | Classification | Original classification? | Notes | | Bridge | | | | Road bridge | | |
EventsThe following date-based events are associated with this building: | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | November 1957 | | Design exhibited | 'design, shown in Edinburgh in model form for the first time'; 'the fourth longest suspension bridge in the world' per Builder 29 November 1957, p981 | | 1958 | 1964 | Build/construction | | | January 1958(?) | | Plans prepared, construction not yet begun | 'Contracts Open' - 'First phase of new Forth road bridge, comprising main pier foundations, including compressed air cassion work, tunnel anchorages (involving rock tunnelling) and r.c. side towers. Mott, Hay and Anderson, constg. engrs., 9 Iddesleigh-hse., Caxton-st., SW1. Dep. £10.' per Builder 10 January 1958 p116 | | 31 January 1958 | | Proposed | 'Proposals for the road system to service the new Forth Road Bridge have been largely completed....The bridge should be completed by the end of 1962 and is to carry an estimated 12,000 vehicles per day. It will be a toll bridge. Work should start in April.' per Builder p243 | | February 1958 | | Proposed | 'The Secretary of State for Scotland has aporved a plan to invite three leading British bridgebuilders - Sir William Arrol and Co., Ltd., Dorman Long and Co., Ltd., and the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co., Ltd. - to combine forces to build the Forth Road Bridge. This plan comes from Mott, Hay and Anderson, consultants for the Forth Road Bridge Committee. Negotiations have started and tenders are expected in June.
[An extended date for submission of] tenders...for the piers and anchorages... April 30 at the request of the interested firms. The ...tenders will be held...until those for the superstructure are ready for approval.' per Builder 28 Feb. 1958 p423 | | 22 August 1958 | | Proposed | 'The Forth Road Bridge will now cost £16.5m... The [Forth Bridge Joint] Board approved tenders worth £10,860,000 for the superstructure, piers and foundations. [These are s]ubject to the approval by the Secretary of State for Scotland...' The balance of the funds will be repayable government grants totaling £4,650,000 and £500,000 from local authorities. 'The bridge will be a single-span 3,300-ft. bridge, the fourth longest in the world; towers will be 500 ft. high and the roadway 150 ft. clear of high water.' per Builder p332 | | 1 September 1958 | | Build/construction | first phase of work began per Builder 5 Sept 1958 p418 | | 5 September 1958 | | Scheme accepted | 'The Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr. John S. Maclay, has approved the Forth Road Bridge Joint Board's recommendation, made at their meeting on August 15, for placing the first two main contracts for work on the Forth Road Bridge...It is now estimated that the total cost of constructional work on the bridge...will amount to £15,100,000.' per Builder p418 | | 21 November 1958 | | Build/construction | 'first pile...driven home by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr. John Maclay at Port Edgar, South Queensferry' per Builder 28 Nov 1958 p935 | | 26 May 1959 | 28 May 1959 | Design exhibited | Institution of Structural Engineers (Scottish Branch) Jubilee Exhibition in the Assembly Rooms, George St., Edinburgh - 5ft. model of new bridge, progress photos of construction work, 1890 book with engravings showing progress of old Forth Bridge per Builder 5 June 1959 p1021 | | 1960 | | Design exhibited | RA Exhibition; drawing by A. C. Webb reprinted in Builder 6 May 1960 p869 | | 29 July 1960 | | Contract offered | £800,000, two-year contract for construction of southern approach road - including seven bridges and three flyovers - awarded to A. M. Carmichael Ltd., of Edinburgh, per Builder p218 | | 12 August 1960 | | Proposed | Mott, Hay and Anderson Consulting Engineers accepting tenders by 14 October for construction of the approach viaducts, £10 dep. per Builder p304 | | 30 December 1960 | | Contract offered | additional £3.17m contracts announced - Whatlings Ltd of Glasgow awarded £2.25m contract for northern approach roads, £920,000 contract for bridge viaducts to Reed and Mallik Ltd, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire; scheme for the northern approach roads - including two 1,000 ft long tunnels, a 6,000 ft viaduct, 10 concrete bridges, 3 1/2 miles of dual carriageways and 4 miles of connecting roads - will provide a motorway link to Fife; the road scheme will also include the first 'octopus' juntion in Britain per Builder p1223 | | January 1962 | | Proposed | Lowest tender for the first section of the new trunk road from the Forth Road Bridge leading to Fife side, extending from Masterton roundabout to Duloch, submitted by Whatlings Ltd. | | 1965 | | Won award or awards | Civic Trust Award (Class I) Bridge and southern approach roads | | 1969 | | Addition | Garages for service vehicles added to administration block |
PeopleDesign and ConstructionClientsThe following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design: | | Name | Notes | | Forth Road Bridge Joint Board | |
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ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this building: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Glendinning, Miles | 1997 | Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75 | | Tuckwell Press Ltd | p26 An early proposal for the Forth Road Bridge in a heavily Art Deco style. Also an image as built, a view of the jacking corner, Oct 1960. p27 Image of bridge in 1961 p165, p167-8 | | McWilliam, Colin | 1978 | Lothian (The Buildings of Scotland) | | | p437-8 | | Miles Glendinning, Diane Watters, David Whitham | | Docomomo Scotland Leaflet | | | p228 Image | | Pride, Glen L | 1999 | The Kingdom of Fife | 2nd Edition | The Rutland Press | p7 | | Willis, Peter | 1977 | New architecture in Scotland | | | p6 Photograph |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this building: | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Builder | 24 May 1946 | | | p498 | | Builder | 21 March 1947 | | | p263 [perspective drawing]
| | Builder | 29 November 1957 | | | 'Forth Road Bridge Plans', p981 | | Builder | 10 January 1958 | | | p117 | | Builder | 31 January 1958 | | | 'Road System Proposals,' p243 | | Builder | 28 February 1958 | | | 'Road Bridge Plan Approved,' p423 | | Builder | 22 August 1958 | | | 'Forth Bridge Contracts' p332 | | Builder | 5 September 1958 | | | 'Road Bridge Contracts' p418 | | Builder | 28 November 1958 | | | 'Work Started on Road Bridge' p935 | | Builder | 5 June 1959 | | | 'Structural Engineers' Exhibition' p1021 | | Builder | 6 May 1960 | | | p869; illustration - see note above | | Builder | 29 July 1960 | | | 'Forth Bridge Approach Road' p218 | | Builder | 12 August 1960 | | | p304 | | Builder | 16 September 1960 | | | captioned construction progress photo with concrete tower on Queensferry side in foreground p582 | | Builder | 30 December 1960 | | | 'Forth Road Bridge Contracts' p1223 | | Builder | 25 August 1961 | | | 'Car Parking in Central Edinburgh, Immediate and Long-Term Proposals to Meet a Worsening Situation' p349 -discussion of its role in bringing more traffic to Edinburgh | | Builder | 12 January 1962 | | | p97 | | Builder | 4 September 1964 | | | p467-468 | | Builder | 28 January 1966 | | | p.169 Civic Trust Award |
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