Page:Forth Bridge (1890).djvu/9



has at all times been a subject for controversy and a matter of difficulty to fix the precise boundary line between the river and the sea, that is to say exactly where the sea ends and the river commences. With regard to the Forth and its estuary, the same discussion has been carried on in Parliament and elsewhere with considerable warmth, but does not appear at the present moment to have got any nearer to settlement than in 1882. Taking, however, a point, say Anstruther, in Fifeshire, and another, say Dunbar, in Haddingtonshire, and drawing a line across which, roughly speaking, passes near the May Island and the Bass Rock, we may call it the Forth within and the sea without this imaginary boundary line. Starting westward from it we have 32 miles to Queensferry and 30 miles further to Stirling. On both sides of this great watershed are situated hundreds of square miles of some of the most fertile and best cultivated land in the three kingdoms. There are great coalfields, there is mineral wealth and, besides, an immense supply of food and other commodities which the inhabitants of these districts would wish to exchange or barter. But a serious barrier stood in the way, and stands even to this day, for the only means of intercommunication and of transport between the two shores is afforded by steam ferries or by sailing craft. Of the former there are three the most seaward is that from Granton to Burntisland, five miles long, and 24 miles up the Forth; the next is that between South and North Queensferry, 32 miles from the boundary line; and the third at Kincardine, about 15 miles west of Queensferry. The first bridge for railway traffic is at Alloa, 20 miles from Queensferry, and the next at Stirling. The Granton-Burntisland passage (see map on the next page) is seriously affected by the weather in the winter months, is often impassable during strong gales, and at the best of times the disembarkation from train to boat and from boat to train is a source of considerable discomfort to passengers, and what is worse a great waste of time. The same holds good, though in a minor degree, at Queensferry and at Kincardine, and the traveller who requires to go from Dunbar to Anstruther, to put an extreme case, and who objects to either of the sea passages, has no choice left him but to go round by Alloa or Stirling, and to pass over about 150 miles of railroad, when the distance between the two towns mentioned is, as the crow flies, less than 18 miles. That under such conditions the commercial and agricultural intercourse and traffic between the eastern counties of Scotland suffered a serious check, and became reduced to a minimum, was but to be expected.

The same disadvantages existed in the case of all those travellers, bent on business or on pleasure, from north to south or vice versâ, who desired to pass through Edinburgh on their way, and who had either to cross by one of the ferries or make the long detour by Stirling, being in either case compelled to submit to a loss of valuable time. Finally, the principal railway companies whose systems are situated in the eastern and midland counties of England and the south of Scotland, could get no access to the northern parts of Scotland except by passing over the lines of a company whose interests were hostile and in opposition to their own. This brought about a most intolerable state of things, and is an easy explanation of the many struggles and attempts made by the East Coast lines to obtain a separate access to the counties north of the Forth. How great the necessity was of having means of communication between the two shores, and how largely even the inadequate provisions made hitherto were taken advantage of, is proved by the fact that in 1805—before a steamboat existed or a railroad was thought of the right of running ferryboats between South and North Queensferry was let at a yearly rental of 2000l., and it is stated in the Parliamentary evidence then taken that the revenue derived by outsiders who run goods and passengers across in yawls and small boats amounted to fully 5000l. per annum in addition.

It must be admitted that the Forth Bridge crosses the river at a point which leaves the eastern counties still somewhat in the same difficulty, but it reduces many of the local distances to be traversed by more than one-half, and the gain in time is considerable. Going by the Forth Bridge and its connecting lines the traveller will now be carried to and safely landed at Perth, Dundee, or Aberdeen, as the case may be, in a comparatively short time after leaving Edinburgh in one and a quarter hours, one and three-quarter hours, and four hours respectively—independent of wind or tide and without difficulty and discomfort. In speaking of the new lines in connection with the bridge this matter will be further referred to.

The justification for the construction of so great a work must, however, be sought in the desire to serve larger interests than those of local traffic merely. In these days of high pressure, of living and working and eating and drinking at top speed, the saving of an hour or two for thousands of struggling men every day is a point of the greatest importance, and every delay, however excusable and unavoidable, is fatal to enterprise. Nor must the bridge be looked upon as a thing standing by itself, but rather as a portion—certainly a somewhat expensive portion—of a gigantic system of railway lines converging from all directions upon the capital of Scotland, affording means not only of more speedy and more comfortable travelling, but also giving facilities for the provision of a larger number of those through trains which are constantly becoming more necessary by the yearly addition of many miles of both main lines and branch lines. Altogether those concerned in this great undertaking are sanguine that within a very few months the courage, the foresight, and the wisdom of the directors of the Forth Bridge Railway Company, and of the other interested railway systems, will be fully proved by results which it is impossible to estimate even approximately just now.

When and with whom the idea of bridging the Forth first originated is now a matter of pure conjecture. The Roman leader bent on exploration and conquest, probably conjured up in his mind's eye the faint outlines of a bridge as he trudged the weary miles along the south shore and found neither boats to carry him across nor ford to traverse—so must often have the sainted Margaret, the wife of Malcolm Caen-Mohr, on her frequent pious pilgrimages between Edinburgh, Linlithgow, and Dunfermline about the time of the Norman Conquest, and so probably her son Alexander the First of Scotland, who in attempting to cross from South to North Queensferry was overtaken by a gale and beaten down the Firth, and had finally to land on the island of Inchcolm, five miles away. He founded a priory on that island as a thanks offering to Providence for a very narrow escape and in view of a warmer reception and more substantial entertainment should a similar misfortune again befall him. So must also many of the poor wayfarers who got drenched to the skin and suffered the horrors of sea-sickness during the crossing, and so must finally—if there was time for them to do so—the unfortunate party of people who were driven down the Hawes Brae at so rapid a pace that horses, carriage, and passengers went right off the pier into the water and none of them came out alive.

The idea thus floated through many minds until about 150 years ago, when a bridge was first spoken of, but particulars as to design, site, or probable cost do not seem obtainable.

In November, 1805, a proposal was made to construct a double tunnel—15 ft. wide and about the same in height quaintly described as one for comers and one for goers—under the bed of the Forth, at some point to the west of Queensferry. The project, was evidently seriously entertained, for in July, 1806, a prospectus was issued by "a number of noblemen and gentlemen of the first respectability and scientific character," inviting the public to subscribe—the shares being fixed at lOOl. each. Further, in 1807, a pamphlet of about 120 pages was published in Edinburgh, entitled "Observations on the Advantages and Practicability of making Tunnels under Navigable Rivers—applicable to the proposed Tunnel under the Forth. Illustrated with a section and map." Nothing, however, seems to have come of the project, whether owing to difficulties of construction or of financing is not known—most probably both.

Within eleven years another effort was made, and we come upon a pamphlet entitled "Report relative to a Design for a Chain Bridge thrown over the Firth of Forth at Queensferry..... By James Anderson, civil engineer and surveyor, Edinburgh, 1818." There were three elevations, differing as to height and length of clear span, but all equally bold and equally primitive; we give on the next page but one a reproduction on a smaller scale of the diagrams accompanying this report. The site was to have been nearly the same as that of the present bridge, starting from the same point at North Queensferry, passing very nearly over the centre of Inchgarvie, and terminating on the south shore about one-third of a mile east of the Hawes Pier, joining the Edinburgh Road just under Mons Hill. The clear height above high water was to have been either 90 ft. or 110 ft., the main spans 1500 or 2000 ft., the width for carriage road and footpath 33 ft., and the cost 175,000l. or 205,000l.. The time required for completion was stated to be four years. A revenue of 10 per cent, on the capital expended was considered a very moderate estimate, which proves that the art of writing a highly coloured prospectus is of older date than most people would have thought. To judge by the estimate the designer can hardly have intended to put more than from 2000 to 2500 tons of iron into the bridge, and this quantity distributed over the length would have given the structure a very light and slender appearance, so light indeed that on a dull day it would hardly have been visible, and after a heavy gale probably no longer to be seen on a clear day either.