Talk:Forth Bridge

Section 3 (Design) must be moved to precede section 2 (Construction). The current arrangement is (how can I put this diplomatically) 'unsatisfactory'.

109.145.108.66 (talk) 01:31, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

 Done - Denimadept (talk) 02:05, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm very much enjoying reading this clear and well-written article. There are twelve, I think, references to "Queensferry" without the prefix "North" or "South" and in some cases the intention may be the two collectively. I'm not sure but a convention seems to have been effectively adopted that one end is being referred to as "Queensferry", without the specification that it is the "South" one (and I'm not sure that it is in every case), and the other end "Fife", so one an unintentionally ambiguous ref to a settlement, the other an entire county rather than the settlement at that situation, with its matching name. For consistency and clarity it ought to be "Fife" and "Lothian" or "North Queensferry" and "South Quensferry". If the former pair is chosen, "at Fife" doesn't seem right for a county rather than an individual location; "at the Fife end" or "in Fife" perhaps? Both settlements may have their names informally abbreviated but as both receive numerous mentions in this article we need the full name each time. Best wishes with the GA nomination. Mutt Lunker (talk) 09:18, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

"Queensferry" by itself always means South Queensferry, as in Queensferry High School, Queensferry (Parliament of Scotland constituency), etc. and on road signs, both standard and local. Certes (talk) 13:29, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

No, that's not actually the case as there are numerous instances of each settlement being referred to without the qualifier,* either in distinction to the other or not. In this article, particularly where we’re specifically talking about going from one to the other, it has to be clear which one is being referred to. Mutt Lunker (talk) 15:13, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

*E.g per the long list at the head of the entry in Placenames of Fife vol 1 or the related website, the ref there to the quote from Andrew Wyntoun, and also in Blaeu’s 1654 atlas the distinction is between "Queens Ferrey" on the Fife side and "S. Queens Ferrey". Locally, nowadays Lowdeners may have a greater tendency to drop the "South" but in Fife, if not clear from the context, they'd probably assume "North" or ask for clarification. Mutt Lunker (talk) 15:30, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

...but I've now managed to resolve the final two anyway. Mutt Lunker (talk) 17:06, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

There are some minor discrepancies between the dimensions quoted in the infobox and the lead. The two spans are given as 1700 ft in the infobox but 1709 ft in the lead (after conversion) NB the SRPS leaflet for the centenary celebrations give them as 1710 ft each. The original drawings, reproduced in The Forth Bridge by Sheila Mackay, gives 1700 ft as does the Network Rail statistics cited. The SRPS also has a different figure for the overall length, 8,295 ft as opposed to 8,094 from network rail. Adding up the dimensions on the original plans I get 5195 ft for the main bridge plus two viaducts at 1713 ft and 1047 ft = 7955 ft. (Please check my maths!) Murgatroyd49 (talk) 09:50, 24 May 2025 (UTC)

As a follow up the illustrated London News quoted the following dimensions, overall length= 2765 yards(!) (8295 ft), cantilever portion = 1 mile and 20 yards (5340 ft) Murgatroyd49 (talk) 10:57, 24 May 2025 (UTC)

Span lengths can be tricky. Do you measure at low water level, mean water level or high water level? Or somewhere above that? --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 15:51, 24 May 2025 (UTC)

Span between columns usually, regardless of water levels. At least that is what the engineering drawings use. Murgatroyd49 (talk) 19:42, 24 May 2025 (UTC)

The columns are not vertical. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 20:09, 24 May 2025 (UTC)

Actually, they are, just that the exterior bracing columns are not. It's an even more complex structure than it first appears. Murgatroyd49 (talk) 20:47, 24 May 2025 (UTC)