Category: History Publisher: windfall books
ISBN-10: 0953983978
Pages: 108
Copyright: september 2004
written to mark the 40th anniversary of the Forth Road Bridge, this book details its history and construction
the men who worked on these high wires, five hundred feet above the forth, were called spidermen .... they were a cross between tapeze artists and ballerinas, moving with grace, agility and confidence, and had nerves of steel...
the Forth Bridge is situated in latitude 56 degrees north, much further north than any major suspension bridge in the world..
there were no stops for tea or meal breaks. tea and hot soup were delivered by means of an urn strapped to the back of a teaboy... Andrew Blunt, a spider man, fell thirty five feet and was aved by a safety net.... this made him a member of the exclusive 'halfway to hell'club, open only to men who fell while building bridges and survived to tell the tale.
I remember the opening of this bridge in 1964. Funny thing, we went by bus to see it. We went over a bridge and I was not that impressed - it was the Kincardine Bridge. However, the SMT bus growled along the coast towards North Queensferry and over the Forth Road Bridge from the Fife end. I was certainly impressed then but more by the railway bridge probably because I could see it in its full glory.
