History of the Forth Crossing

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The Firth of Forth was historically crossed by ferry until the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964.

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Roman boat bridge

It is possible that a boat bridge made of around 500 boats across the Forth could have been constructed by Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla during their campaign in Scotland c. 208. [1] Divided in the middle by Inchgarvie, a 1.25 miles (2.01 km) bridge made of boats secured to long mooring ropes was within the capabilities of the Romans at the time, and with several tens of thousands of men campaigning north of the river such an investment may have been worthwhile. [1] Whilst there is no evidence of such a bridge being built at Queensferry, the Romans are known to have built such bridges elsewhere. [1] [2]

Regular ferries

Hawes Pier, South Queensferry, alongside the Forth Bridge. Southern terminus of cross-Firth ferry until 1964, now used for rescue service and pleasure craft. Southqueenshawespier.jpg
Hawes Pier, South Queensferry, alongside the Forth Bridge. Southern terminus of cross-Firth ferry until 1964, now used for rescue service and pleasure craft.

A regular service is known to have crossed at Queensferry as early as the 12th century, using a series of natural rock landings west of Queensferry Harbour. [4] Small permanent structures existed at both sides of the crossing by 1710, but by 1760 these were considered inadequate for the most trafficked ferry passage in Scotland. [4] A 1772 petition to the Forfeited Estates Commission from an unknown engineer requested £980 for improvements, who in turn consulted civil engineer John Smeaton. [4] Smeaton considered the largely natural landings to be the greatest issue, especially at low water, and recommended an increased number of landings in order to prevent boats having to tack, as well as specific improvements to existing piers. [5] By July 1777, the Royal Burghs of Scotland had given £300 and the Forfeited Estates Commission £600, the latter on the basis of its importance as a military route. [5] The Board of Trustees for Fisheries, Manufactures and Improvements in Scotland also contributed to the repair of two piers. [6]

John Rennie the Elder made improvements worth £34,000 to a number of piers by 1812, and further works were carried out when expenditure of £20,000 was authorised in 1814. [7] The harbour at South Queensferry was brought to its present form by an 1817 plan from Hugh Baird, who turned the west pier at a right angle to further enclose the harbour. [6] [8]

Robert Stephenson was called by the ferry superintendent in 1817 to advise on how to furnish the passage with lighting. [9]

Steamboats

In September 1819, a steamboat started operation at the "Broad Ferry" between Newhaven and Dysart, resulting in the Queensferry Passage losing two-thirds of its traffic by the autumn of 1820. [9] The design of the piers and the fast-flowing tides made the Queensferry crossing unsuitable for steamboats, but a paddle steamboat named the Queen Margaret was entered service in 1821 to tow sailing boats. [9] Only the southern landing at Longcraig Pier could accommodate it, and because of the protruding paddles it could not load wheeled cargo. [9] In that same year a fleet of sailing boats was introduced, but despite the efficiency of the operation, it could not compete with the Broad Ferry and in 1828 the Trustees consulted with engineer Thomas Telford with a view to making improvements. [9]

Tunnelling

Coal workings

George Bruce of Carnock tunnelled far out under the Forth in the 1600s, with John Taylor describing the pit in 1618. [10] Taylor describes how after building a circular stone cofferdam, the workmen dug down 40 feet (12 m) into the coal seam, and followed it out to sea. In "eight and twenty or nine and twenty yeeres", they dug over an English mile out to sea. The tunnel was cut like an arch, and tall enough for a man to walk upright in most places, with three horses powering 36 buckets to keep the mine drained. [11] The tunnel lasted until 1625, when the sea washed over the cofferdam in a storm. [12] While this tunnel was never intended to be a means of transport, they are testimony to Bruce's "great knowledge and skill in machinery." [12]

A 2.5-mile (4.0 km) tunnel linking Valleyfield colliery in Fife to Kinneil colliery near Bo'ness was completed in 1964 so that coal could be transported 500 metres (1,600 ft) under the Forth to the more modern coal processing facilities at Kinneil. The collieries were closed in 1978 and 1983 and the tunnel was sealed off. [13] [14]

Transport proposals

A proposal to tunnel under the Forth from Inchgarvie was put forward in around 1790, but the difficulty of tunnelling through whinstone meant it was not taken seriously. [15] The success of coal mining operations to the west of Queensferry meant that a proposal mooted in 1805 for a tunnel 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of Inchgarvie was taken much more seriously. [16]

Twin 15 feet (4.6 m) wide arches would be bored at a maximum depth of 30 fathoms (180 ft; 55 m) through what was thought to be freestone, with construction anticipated to cost £160,000 - 170,000 over a four-year period. [16] A revised scheme in 1806 moved the tunnel westward, away from Hopetoun House, after objections from the Earl of Hopetoun. [16] This scheme also received support, and Robert Bald suggested making soundings and borings as an initial step towards construction, but tunnelling never started, likely for economic reasons. [17] This proved to be serendipitous, as the freestone was proved to run at a depth of 1,800 feet (550 m) under the Forth when the Kinneil and Valleyfield mines were joined in 1964. [18] [19] Other tunnels through similar material attempted at the time failed, notably an attempt to tunnel under the River Thames between Gravesend and Tilbury. [18]

In 2021, the Scottish Greens proposed a 9 miles (14 km) long rail tunnel from Kirkcaldy to Leith which would bypass the Forth Bridge. If built, it is suggested that it would cut journey times from Edinburgh to the north by 25 minutes, while adding capacity to the railway network. [20]

Early bridge proposals

Bridges were possibly proposed as early as 1740 or 1758, but no records have been found. [1] The materials available at the time, namely stone and wood, offered a limited maximum span of around 30 metres, making construction of such bridges in deep water unfeasible. [1] After Henry Cort invented puddling in 1783 as a method of producing large quantities of high-quality iron, such bridges could again be considered. [1] Scotland had four wrought-iron footbridges by 1817, with the longest spanning a distance of 261 feet (80 m). [1]

Thomas Bouch

Thomas Bouch was a railway engineer responsible for designing and constructing relatively cheap branch lines at a capital cost allowing them to pay their way; eg the Darlington and Barnard Castle Railway (completed 1856), the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway (completed 1861), the Eden Valley Railway (completed 1862), and the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway, (completed 1864, with 135 bridges). He made considerable use of lattice girder bridges with piers of (conventional) masonry or cast iron lattice.

Bouch returned repeatedly to the problem of bridging the two great East Coast firths, the Forth and the Tay. When authorisation was given to bridge both firths, Bouch was selected to design both bridges. The first Tay Bridge (designed by Gough) was authorised in 1870 and completed in 1878. Bouch was knighted in June 1879 soon after Queen Victoria had used the bridge. But after the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879 Bouch was blamed for design faults including not allowing for high wind pressure and also for poor quality of various items (e.g. lugs or cross bracing) although the three engineers involved could not agree on many aspects of the report.

Bouch's design for a suspension bridge to take a railway across the Firth of Forth, had been accepted and the foundation stone laid, but the project was cancelled after the 1879 disaster. One of the piers still remains at the site. Bouch died, a broken man, in 1880.

A different design for a cantilever bridge was drawn up by Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler, and the Forth Bridge to their design was completed in 1890.

Modern alternative to bridges

In 2007, in a two-week trial jointly funded by SEStran and Stagecoach, a passenger hovercraft ran between Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh, [21] but Stagecoach have indicated that they are not interested in developing this into a service. [22]

The new Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link diverted coal trains away from the bridge. Instead they travel via Stirling to Longannet Power Station. Freight restrictions may then be lifted, with the potential of increasing the number of trains from 10 tph (trains per hour) to 12.

Related Research Articles

Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more often refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to Scandinavian fjord and fjard, with the original meaning of "sailable waterway". The word has a more constrained sense in English. Bodies of water named "firths" tend to be more common on the Scottish east coast, or in the southwest of the country, although the Firth of Clyde is an exception to this. The Highland coast contains numerous estuaries, straits, and inlets of a similar kind, but not called "firth" ; instead, these are often called sea lochs. Before about 1850, the spelling "Frith" was more common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firth of Forth</span> Estuary of Scotlands River Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife to its north and Lothian to its south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bouch</span> British railway engineer (1822–1880)

Sir Thomas Bouch was a British railway engineer. He was born in Thursby, near Carlisle, Cumberland, and lived in Edinburgh. As manager of the Edinburgh and Northern Railway he introduced the first roll-on/roll-off train ferry service in the world. Subsequently as a consulting engineer, he helped develop the caisson and popularised the use of lattice girders in railway bridges. He was knighted after the successful completion of the first Tay Railway Bridge, but his reputation was destroyed by the subsequent Tay Bridge disaster, in which 75 people are believed to have died as a result of defects in design, construction and maintenance, for all of which Bouch was held responsible. He died within 18 months of being knighted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tay Bridge</span> Railway bridge across the River Tay, Scotland

The Tay Bridge carries rail traffic across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is 2.75 miles. It is the second bridge to occupy the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Queensferry</span> Human settlement in Scotland

North Queensferry is a historic coastal village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth, 9 mi (14 km) from Edinburgh city centre. Located on the North Queensferry Peninsula, it is the southernmost settlement in Fife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Queensferry</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is now administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. It lies ten miles to the north-west of Edinburgh city centre, on the shore of the Firth of Forth between the Forth Bridge, Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bo'ness</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Borrowstounness is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Falkirk council area, 17 miles northwest of Edinburgh and 6+3⁄4 miles east of Falkirk. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, the population of the Bo'ness locality was 15,100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Train ferry</span> Ferryboat carrying railroad cars onboard

A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as distinguished from "auto ferries" used to transport automobiles. The wharf has a ramp, and a linkspan or "apron", balanced by weights, that connects the railway proper to the ship, allowing for tidal or seasonal changes in water level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inchgarvie</span> Uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth, Scotland

Inchgarvie or Inch Garvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. On the rocks around the island sit four caissons that make up the foundations of the Forth Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Queensferry railway station</span> Railway station in Fife, Scotland

North Queensferry railway station is a railway station in the village of North Queensferry, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line, 11+1⁄4 miles (18.1 km) northwest of Edinburgh Waverley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tay Bridge disaster</span> Bridge collapse and train wreck

The Tay Bridge disaster occurred during a violent European windstorm on Sunday 28 December 1879, when the first Tay Rail Bridge collapsed as a North British Railway (NBR) passenger train on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line from Burntisland bound for its final destination of Dundee passed over it, killing all aboard. The bridge—designed by Sir Thomas Bouch—used lattice girders supported by iron piers, with cast iron columns and wrought iron cross-bracing. The piers were narrower and their cross-bracing was less extensive and robust than on previous similar designs by Bouch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islands of the Forth</span> Group of islands in the Firth of Forth, Scotland

The Islands of the Forth are a group of small islands located in the Firth of Forth and in the estuary of the River Forth on the east coast of Scotland. Most of the group lie in the open waters of the firth, between the Lothians and Fife, with the majority to the east of the city of Edinburgh. Two islands lie further west in the river estuary.

The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a railway company authorised in 1845 to connect Edinburgh to both Perth and Dundee. It relied on ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, but despite those disadvantages it proved extremely successful. It took over a short railway on the southern shore of the Forth giving a direct connection to Edinburgh, and it changed its name to the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway</span> Former railway line in Scotland

The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway was a railway company formed in 1836 to connect the city of Edinburgh with the harbours on the Firth of Forth. When the line connected to Granton, the company name was changed to the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway. It opened part of its route in 1846, but reaching the centre of Edinburgh involved the difficult construction of a long tunnel; this was opened in 1847. It was on a steep incline and was worked by rope haulage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forth Bridge</span> Railway bridge over the Firth of Forth in Scotland

The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, 9 miles west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed by English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge, although this is not its official name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Chain Pier</span> Pier in Edinburgh, Scotland

Trinity Chain Pier, originally called Trinity Pier of Suspension, was built in Trinity, Edinburgh, Scotland in 1821. The pier was designed by Samuel Brown, a pioneer of chains and suspension bridges. It was intended to serve ferry traffic on the routes between Edinburgh and the smaller ports around the Firth of Forth, and was built during a time of rapid technological advance. It was well used for its original purpose for less than twenty years before traffic was attracted to newly developed nearby ports, and it was mainly used for most of its life for sea bathing. It was destroyed by a storm in 1898; a building at the shore end survives, much reconstructed, as a pub and restaurant called the Old Chain Pier.

Several mineral railways were constructed around Dunfermline in western Fife, Scotland, in the eighteenth century and later. Their purpose was to convey minerals to market from the outcropping coal deposits that had encouraged industrial activity in the area from an early date.

The Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway was a railway company founded to form part of a rail and ferry route between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, in Scotland. It was authorised in 1873 and its promoters had obtained informal promises from the larger North British Railway that the NBR would provide financial help, and also operate the ferry and the necessary railway on the southern side of the Firth of Forth.

The Forth Bridge approach railways were railway lines constructed in the period 1887 to 1890 to form new main lines on the opening of the Forth Bridge at the Queensferry crossing. Until then, only local branch lines approached the location. The North British Railway built new main lines and upgraded some existing lines.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Paxton 1990 , p. 19
  2. ↑ McGeough 2009 , p. 213
  3. ↑ "South Queensferry, Hawes Pier". CANMORE.
  4. 1 2 3 Paxton 1990 , p. 1
  5. 1 2 Paxton 1990 , p. 2
  6. 1 2 Paxton 1990 , p. 3
  7. ↑ Paxton 1990 , pp. 5–6
  8. ↑ "South Queensferry Harbour" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Paxton 1990 , p. 6
  10. ↑ Paxton 1990 , p. 10
  11. ↑ Paxton 1990 , pp. 10–11
  12. 1 2 Paxton 1990 , p. 12
  13. ↑ Dick, Sandra (13 May 2014). "Tunnel under Forth that linked Lothians to Fife". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Kelly, John (4 March 2015). "Crossing the Forth without the Forth Bridge" . Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  15. ↑ Paxton 1990 , pp. 12–13
  16. 1 2 3 Paxton 1990 , p. 13
  17. ↑ Paxton 1990 , p. 14
  18. 1 2 Paxton 1990 , p. 15
  19. ↑ Wright, Ken. "Coal and Bo'ness". bo-ness.org.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "£6 billion Forth rail tunnel between Kirkcaldy and Leith proposed by Greens". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  21. ↑ "A New Forth Crossing". stagecoachbus.com. Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 8 July 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  22. ↑ "Press Release Articles from". SEStran. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2012.

Sources

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