4 November 2009: Forth Road Bridge

45 years after its construction, the Forth Road Bridge held its first ever ‘open week’, with over 1,000 members of the public joining guided tours.  Normally unseen areas such as the anchorage chambers - where the main cables are attached to the ground - were made accessible, and over 50 young people from local schools and community groups were given extended tours, including the opportunity to climb to the top of the support towers, 156m above sea level.

The open week was run by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta), and included an exhibition celebrating the history of the bridge which featured displays, models and videos.

Officially opened by the Queen on 4 September 1964, at that time the Forth Road Bridge was the largest suspension bridge in Europe, and the fourth largest in the world, with a main span of 1.05km and an overall length of 2.5km.  Its construction brought to an end the 800-year history of a ferry-boat service crossing the estuary between North and South Queensferry.

The image here was taken in 1961 by Construction Manager R B Wood, and looks north from the top of the South Main Tower along the footwalk suspended above the fog. It is just one of a large number of images of the Forth Road Bridge that can be viewed on our searchable online database Canmore.