Scottish Victorian bridge over which time has no power

Built at the end of the 19th century, the Fort Bridge became the link between Edinburgh and the Fife area on the shores of the Firth of Forth. It is unique in many respects, and even today it looks grandiose and very modern. It is hard to imagine that he is already more than 125 years old. But the Scots pride quickly gave way to slight disappointment - the steel parts of the Fort Bridge began to corrode, the bridge had to be constantly covered with protective paint. And if Sisyphus labor personified an endless occupation in the days of Antiquity, then in Scotland for many years this was the painting of steel parts of the Fort Bridge.

The construction of the railway steel bridge was completed in 1890, when engineers and builders were just beginning to master this material as the basis for the construction of bridges. With the help of caissons, special designs that allow isolating the workspace from water access, granite supports were built for the bridge, on which steel supports, in turn, were installed. To supply the building materials necessary for the construction of an infrastructure miracle, three UK steel mills worked smoothly. Despite the complexity of the design and the large amount of work, the bridge was built quite quickly, in just 7 years.

During the approval of the Fort Bridge project in Scotland, a man-made disaster occurred, which forced engineers to review a number of key aspects of the project. The practically new bridge across the Firth of Tey did not withstand the load of the gale and collapsed just as the passenger train passed through it. The cause of the tragedy was recognized engineering errors made during the design. This circumstance prompted the designers of Fort Bridge to significantly review the safety parameters, and the bridge passed serious strength tests before it was put into operation. In order to be convinced of its strength, two freight trains with a total weight of about 1,800 tons were put on the bridge. At the time of passage of the compositions, the engineers measured the displacement parameters, which were within acceptable limits.

But if there was no doubt about the safety of the bridge, then with the strength of the steel structures themselves, problems arose almost immediately. Details of the bridge began to corrode rust, because of which the bridge had to constantly be covered with new layers of paint. This was the reason for a lot of jokes and aphorisms, but there was simply no other way out than to constantly paint the bridge. And not so long ago, the bridge was covered with paint of improved composition, which should last at least 25 years.