Hi everybody! "Doon the watter" was the title of my last pic, and it goes on "and under a steel mountain"! The famous Forth Bridge, this was one of the highlights in Scotland for a railroad man as I am..... The same POV as my last pic, South Queensferry... The bridge is "under construction". Every part is controlled, restored and the whole bridge is painted new in the moment after they deleted the old painting. The works should go on for some years - and then the circle begins again. Not a good situation for photographers.. And: This bridge is permanently "under construction": "Painting the Forth bridge" is part of the scottish language culture meanwhile: It means a work that never ends and begins every day again, the endless circle of Sysiphus work..... The bridge was built by famous constructor Thomas Bouch in 1879 - so was the plan - but than the bridge over the Forth of Tay crashed in a storm at 28th December. A train passed by in this moment and 75 persons were killed. Thomas Bouch, its constructor, was not allowed to build a bridge longer than 5 ft in the U.K after this...... People were full of fear against a new bridge over the Forth river, they were shocked by the Tay - accident. The two new constructors of the Forth bridge, Walter Fowler and Benjamin Baker, had to start competely new. Their first step was to discuss their plans with the audition and the people and win back lost confidence. So they construced a very massive bridge with very heavy elements as a cantilever bridge. Something undestroyable... The construction works started 4 years after the Tay accident in 1883, and after 7 years the bridge was opened at 4th May 1890. In her time the bridge was worldwide the greatest till 1919. More then 4600 workers built the bridge; 57 lost their lives (official). Local historians found out that 98 workers were killed by accidents. some technical specifications: lengh: 2,5 kilometers (1,5 miles) three bridge piers: Highness 110 meters (350 ft) wideness 495 meters (1750 ft; both cantilever arms) Wideness between two piers: 520 meters (1720 ft) Weight: 55 000 tons; Rivets: more than 8 millions... It was the first steel construction in the U.K; the steel was produced by 2 steelworks in Scotland and one in Wales. Modern material analysis of 2002 declare that the steel is of fine quality, and the fundamentation is solid constructed and moved no millimeter since 100 years..... Great work! Hope you enjoy this pic. Thanks for your comments and your time in my gallery, its funny to load up these pics. Till tomorrow,billcody