The Forth Bridge: An Incredible 19th Century Achievement 

Thank you - now I can show this to my wife who thought perhaps I (a civil engineer) had experienced a stroke as we approached Edinburg in a tour coach and I exclaimed "That's the Forth Bridge" She replied, "Where are the first three?", I said, "No, Forth, it crosses the Firth of Forth" at which point she decided I had lost the power of speech. I was, to a degree impossible for an accounting major (her) to fathom, completely geeking out about a civil engineering wonder which I had read about, but was only beginning to appreciate in real life. This will help her understand.

Remember that these guys didn't have CAD or CFD suites. All done by pencil and slide rule on a drawing board.

If someone told me this bridge was 10 years old, I’d believe them. So I’m having a hard time imagining just how futuristic this bridge must have looked when it was new!

I live less than 15 miles away from this bridge. It is a really impressive structure, and you just can't understand the scale of it unless you see it in real life. Pictures do not do it justice at all.

What I love about the Forth Bridge (aside from being generally awesome) is that it's a visual lesson in structures - all the main compression members are tubular (the best shape to resist buckling), all the main tension members are lattice trusses. Almost without exception. Also, aesthetically, the way the curve of the bottom chord of the cantilevers flows into the horizontal deck of the suspended spans gives it an elegance and a visual unity that many large cantilever bridges lack.

You forgot to mention the old saying that a never-ending job was "like painting the Forth Bridge". Nowadays, a longer-lasting coating is used.

The design of the Tay bridge involved cast iron. While very strong, it is not very tough and will encounter brittle failure when overloaded. That, combined with the massive cross-sectional area exposed to wind loading, ultimately caused the bridge to come down. The design was essentially eyeballed.

A feat of engineering for certain, and the best part is, there's a side-project video idea to this, and that's repeatedly painting the bleedin' thing for decades until they recently coated it with a much longer-lasting paint... :D

The first time I ever heard of the Forth bridge, being as I live deep in the heart of Texas, was on a mudlarking RU-vid video. They really didn't go into the history. THANK YOU!

Near the road bridge there was a hotel and in the grounds was a steel mock up of the construction demonstration. Two or three of you could sit on this while another took your photo. I do not know if it still exists today though.

Among my top 5 engineering marvels. A masterpiece, it's so unlike anything before or since it qualifies as a work of art.

Wow! Thats one of the most beautiful bridges ive ever seen!

An interesting look at a bridge I've crossed many time, however. I feel on this occasion your writer did Sir Thomas Bouch a bit of an injustice. Yes he was involved in the designs of ferries having introduced the first roll-on roll-off train ferries in the world. However, railway engineering was always his forte. He had a successful career in bridge design having designed several bridges across the north of England and Scotland. I also believe he was also part of the team that developed the Caisson

Still my favourite Civil Engineering project in the U.K I remember going along the Forth road bridge quite a few times visiting family in North Berwick.

Images of this bridge always remind me of my dad and his childhood sailing there and our holidays to the Queensferry's, very evocative.

Such a lovely bridge, grace and style, combined to perfection. Form follows function ....

The video forgot one thing, this bridge just flat out looks good.

Absolutely stunning feat of engineering, I marvel at it every time I see it. I can't wait to see it with my own eyes, hopefully soon!

I grew up under the bridge and even today it never ceases to amaze me what an awesome and vast structure it is

Its a fascinating bridge and one I've spent many times chilling beside, also been lucky enough to get on top of it which was an experience! Great to see you cover this big beautiful icon of Fife 😁👍

Thank you for not putting any annoying "sponsored by" clips in the middle!!

I live in South Queensferry, which is on the South end of the bridges. They are the view from my living room window. They are an amazing sight, especially lit up at night. The middle bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, is by far my least favourite. The old one, as seen here, is a glorious beast. The new bridge, the Queensferry Crossing is rather beautiful in a very different way. The old road bridge is not particularly nice looking and it's a favoured suicide bridge. It's the most depressing thing about living here - any time you hear a helicopter, you know the chance is high that someone has just taken a dive. But the village is amazingly pretty, all in all, I'm very lucky to live here.

A stunning bridge…. Always a winner when we stop if there for views when doing most tours out of Edinburgh….. can also see it off in the distance from my house.

How about a project in Kiruna, North of Sweden where they're actively moving half a town to a new site in order to expand the iron mine underneath?

Previous experience making ferries, now make an record bridge, and yes he should stuck to ferries. And loved the 3 guys in the image, ok that is how it works.

I live just down the road from this bridge and have seen it almost everyday off my life and have just found a whole new apprentice for it.

I've always admired this mammoth construction, and wanted to drive over it , then as I live in London wasn't able to visit until I went to fort William, so in 94 I decided to drive there from Ben nevis not realising that it was only a train bridge, the road bridge was about a mile away the bank. I should have done my research first lol.

One of my great grandfathers was a bridge painter for the forth rail bridge , they had a cottage at the base of the bridge on south queenferry side

I live in South Queensferry, great views of the bridges 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I've been to Scotland many times and was delighted to get the opportunity to cross this bridge on one of those visits. As we crossed, I thought of the great scene in Hitchcock's 39 Steps when Mr. Hannay pulls the emergency cord as they cross the bridge and escapes by hiding behind one of those massive steel piers. He later calls out the bridge as a tribute to Scottish engineering, which it truly is.

Another really cool bridge that you might be interested in is the newest bridge that crosses the Forth, the Queensferry Crossing

I kept thinking “what happened to the first, second, and third bridges,” until I realized it’s not spelled “fourth” so it has to be the name of the geographic location 🤣

An amazing bridge, it truly is a marvel. A lot of people died constructing it

This is one of my favorite bridge designs of all bridges built ever. Great episode as always. Thanks Simon.

The Quebec bridge has pretty much the same story of accident during building without the embezzlement .

I live in the nearest city to the bridge ( Dunfermline). most of the time when I go to Edinburgh, I go by train. This is mostly due to the great view you get of the ocean and surrounding area. The bridge also has a great history, something you missed out. In ww2 Luftwaffe bombers tried to destroy the bridge but failed due to a small defence of aa guns on the island beside it.

Yep! Another classic episode. Well done as always.

lovely bridge to see. I have been over it many times by train and it is 'nothing special' which is just what you want from a bridge. The less drama in a river crossing the better.

Haven't just learned of it today the new Istanbul canal would make an interesting Megaproject.

Here's a suggestion, I know technically it's not a Megaproject, however, it was so advanced that I think it may count: the Antikythera mechanism.

Recent discovery about the Tay bridge disaster found that the section which disappeared during the event had been blown off its barges during a previous storm. Instead of building a new section, the damaged one was salvaged and erected with a twist in the structure, compensated for by the insertion of triangular plates at track level. Trains passing this point experienced a side step, lurching left to right (vice versa depending on transit direction) The combination of side step, speed and high wind derailed the train, striking the triangular struts and dislodging the damaged section and adjacent sections!

A video on the Astoria - Megler bridge would be pretty interesting!

Brilliant my request was answered. Great work Simon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

i live in edinburgh and visit my dad in fife each week, every time i see the forth bridge i am amazed by it, the photos dont do it justice with how large and impressive it really is

Just been for a trip across this bridge today, walking back to South Queensferry on the now redundant suspension road bridge. Great day out

AT LAST!!! Thanks for finally covering this piece of wonderful engineering

Such a great video pass it everyday, still amazes me every time. A think of beauty. Edinburgh museum has a section all about it.

Thanks for this guys! Another great video.

East Lothian Scotland boy here!

What a gorgeous bridge! I had heard of the Tay Bridge because of the disastrous collapse, which has always fascinated me. But wow, how did I not know about the Forth Bridge! I have crossed the GGB many times. One thing that makes it so striking is it’s color… a color that isn’t so common for painting bridges. It appears the color of the Forth Bridge is very similar to the GGB’s international orange. (It’s really more red or brown than orange, but they call it orange). I am wondering if the GGB designers were looking at the Forth Bridge and were inspired. That color really sticks out through the fog that so often surrounds the bridge. Nice documentary, thanks, Simon and crew. Now I want to go and see this bridge, and the Tay Bridge as well!

I love this channel

pretty please cover the english electric lightning! its my absolute favourite jet!

These are my favorite ones. Still a mega project but one that's a little more obscure that I've never heard of. Really good!

Absolutely excellent episode! I had never heard of this before. The historical photographs were amazing. Razor sharp, and really showed their concept effectively

Can you cover the history of The Thunderbirds? It's tragic and beautiful. Yeah, I'm the YF-23 guy.....

Good stuff Simon !!!

I can hardly believe you omitted possibly the most iconic and legendary aspect of the Forth Bridge - that is the one about its painting, which has to be started again just as soon as it's been completed (owing to its length and sheer size)!! It's this single context in which us Brits most often refer to the bridge!!!

Spot-on watch....

Having grown up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I would absolutely love to see you do a story on the Mackinac Bridge, a world record breaking bridge upon its completion, and one of the most fine-looking bridges out there!

Thank you for doing this

master piece of iron work, yes cad, Cardboard Aided Design template, that's about it, and lots of intelligence, could you imagine what these tradesman could achieve today in speed construction with the machines of today and posh all weather gear, every time a pass that bridge it reminds me of 3 prehistoric brontosaurus dinosaurs wading across the water

Standing in the right place you can see it from my old home town. Seeing it up close is something else though.

Great watching a video about a bridge that i can see by looking out the window. The bridge is huge standing underneath it.

In the 1980's I drove on the car bridge that is now close to the Forth. It was a pretty impressive and large bit of metal! I wished I could have crossed it, but trains only.

Good one. Not too many photos taken in those days that have lasted this long. Cheers 🇨🇦

I always appreciate how Whistler gives metric and imperial units

I recommended this last year. I'm not sure if it was that request that made the video, but i lke it. Thanks

Does Simon make RU-vid videos in his sleep? I’m starting to feel sorry for this guy

I have been to it and stood under it all way back in 2009, what a spectacular beauty to behold!!! YES I AN ENGLISHMAN like our host loves it! 😍😁👍👍👍

Would love to see a video on the mackinac bridge in Michigan. I could even write a killer script about it

The History of hydraulics would be a really interesting video- keep it up guys!

This is on my door step, funny how take it for granted living close to it.

After your F1 video you should cover nascar similarly, it just turned 74

You should do the Québec bridge, fell in the gap twice during construction!

Today there is a new road bridge (Queensferry Crossing) beside the old road bridge (just used for taxis and buses), so you have three bridges all in use and all built in a different century from each other! Probably unique in the world on that fact alone.

I will always remember this bridge as the bridge between San Fierro and Bone County lol

Mackinac Bridge would also be an interesting mega/side project or dare I say a Giographics of the Great Lakes in North America, sinking of Edmond Fitzgerald.

Hey Simon, I would love it if you would do an episode/episodes on Bagger 288/293 and or Bingham Canyon copper mine!

Super weird hearing Dundee in a RU-vid video. Unsure why but it's a nice surprise. The rail disaster is a big part of our heritage.

These iron bridges need to be painted continuously in order to prevent them from rusting away. Unfortunately, the current owner of the Quebec bridge has decided to stop painting it, so we may not have it for much longer.

One of my favorite things.

This will sound really stupid - I live about 30 mins away from the bridge. Until I was about 12, I thought that trains went over the top, like a giant red rollercoaster

how about a video about the rebuilding of the San Francisco Bay Bridge after the 1989 earthquake?

A Megaproject on the Quebec bridge (pont de Quebec) would be great. It has a veryinteresting an tragic history

Buzz Killington loves a good story about a bridge

Now that you've mentioned it. You have to do the Québec Bridge.

You should do a video on the Chesapeake bay bridge!

this was really interesting. Should do the Mackinack Island Bridge the Mighty Mac. :)

Perhaps do a mega projects video on the EADS Bridge in St. Louis MO.

It's nice to see a video where Simon doesn't belittle and insult the UK. Great job 👍

Mate can you make a vedio on indian combat aircraft program 'Tejas"

Good video 👍

Megaproject project, excellent video 📹 wish I made an effort to see it when I was on holiday there. Forth Bridge made famous by the film 🎥 'Thirty nine steps ' ???

So I'd love to see either on Mega Projects or maybe more suitable on Side Projects The Mackinaw Bridge

Amazing!

It seems like some recognition of the longevity of the Forth bridge is in order. In a world where bridges are regularly being demolished/replaced that have only stood for 40 or 50 years, this bridge is not a candidate for replacement and is, it seems a part of the landscape. I leaves one wondering why more modern structures lack permanence. Have we forgotten how or have we just lost the will to things that will last?

You didn't mention William Topaz McGonagall's poem on the destruction of the Tay Bridge.

This is awesome. I suggested this about a year ago here 😂

Thanks Simon! What are the maintenance procedures on the Forth??

Have you done the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan? That's the longest suspension bridge in the world.