Engineering Accomplishment of the Forth Bridge - Coursework Example

Engineering Accomplishment The construction of the Forth Bridge is one of the major accomplishments of construction engineering in the last 20 years. The bridge was constructed from 1850 and was officially launched in the year 1990. The bridge was officially launched after a long span of hard work and challenges in coming up with a successful engineering construction. This was an achievement in the engineering fraternity because it gave rise to the construction of more and more bridges all over the world with the use of steel which laid a firm foundation. According to Douglas (2010), Forth Bridge was the first in the world to use steel as its main material for the structure. This was a major invention which introduced the use of steel in construction work and for the making of machines. Apart from that, the bridge has the longest single cantilever span in the world. The bridge was earlier designed by Sir Thomas Bouch before it collapsed in 1879 which led to the drowning of a train and killed all of its passengers. After the collapse, Bouch had started restructuring the bridge under the Forth Bridge company. Before he could finish up the first phase, the Tay collapsed which led to his dismissal. Benjamin Baker and Sir Fowler John were hired by the company and come up with yet another structure for the bridge. The team of constructers was made up of experts in engineering to ensure that the construction becomes successful. The first idea that was used in constructing the bridge was the use of a balanced cantilever principle. The principle was meant to lengthen the bridge. Because of the great efforts put in constructing the bridge, Forth Bridge until today is considered to be an engineering marvel in the world. This is because of its unique designs and the use of cantilever principle. The bridge is 1.6 miles long which is equalized to 2.5 km. It has a double track which is elevated from the water level at a height of 151 ft at high tides. The bridge is designed to have two major spans with cantilever arms as designed by Benjamin Baker. The two spans make up a height of 1710 ft with one side being 680ft and the other with 15 approaches of 168 ft each. The central span truss of the bridge of 350 ft is supported by two cantilever arms of 680ft each. The whole Forth Bridge weighs 51,324 tons because of the 6.5million rivets used in the construction. The quantity of granite used in the building of the bridge was 640,000 cubic feet which can be approximated to 18,122m³. The bridge is also made up of three cantilever structures and each structure consists of four towers of 330ft each. The towers were built from caissons of 71ft and a diameter of 21 m. the constructers at the bottom of the caissons worked had to dig through the mud to get to the solid rock by using compressed air. Through this method, it was possible for the constructors to get to the rock head. Without the compressed air, it would have been a hectic process in trying to get to the rock head. The construction of the bridge was a superb work especially because technology was not in use in those times. During the testing of the bridge, several matters were put into consideration: The weight of the load that the bridge could carry, the pressure that could be sustained by the bridge and the tension that the bridge could endure. To test the strength of the bridge, two trains weighing a total of 1,880 tons were passed through the bridge. The trains were frequently stopped to measure the deflection that the bridge had on the weight exerted on it. This was done to keep away from the incidence of other demises like the one which occurred on the Tay Bridge. Fig. 1 below shows a sketch of the design of Forth Bridge. Fig. 1 Design of Forth Bridge The track of the bridge as seen above is made of timber which is 6 meters long and they are bolted with troughs of steel. The rails of the bridge are fixed on the tracks which has square bulks of 12 inches. Per every foot of the bridge, 100 rivets were fitted. A drilling machine was used to manufacture tubes used in the construction tube. The bridge was built to connect two parts of Scotland which were earlier accessed by the use of ferries. An island in the middle of the waters was used as a balance for the bridge. A strong foundation was laid on the island that formed the center of the bridge thus increasing its strength and momentum. The island was used to support the weight of the bridge and acted as a strong pillar which could not be easily worn out unlike steel and graphite (Roger & McEvoy, 1995). Today, the bridge connects, Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland to Fife. It connects the north-east part of Scotland to the south-east. It serves many people every day and the development of the north-east and south-east part of Scotland has highly developed. The construction of Forth Bridge is a great engineering accomplishment because it has led to development of more advanced ways of structuring bridges in various parts of the world. The bridge also acts as a learning tool for engineers. From the mistakes made and the weaknesses the construction of the bridge had, more effective bridges would be built. More advanced bridges are being constructed and the maintenance of the bridge involves more advanced procedures and materials to make the bridge stronger for the coming years. With all of its unique designs, the bridge was the first successful construction with the use of steel in the world. This opened a door for more engineering innovations and constructions because the use of steel proved to be the basis of a strong foundation. From that innovation until now, steel is used by engineers and contractors to lay the foundation of a building or any construction undertaken. Many bridges have also been constructed through the designed used for the Forth Bridge. The Forth Bridge was also a pathway to the advanced construction of bridges in the world. However, one thing remains: the cantilever principle of balance is still used in the construction of bridges today. The Forth Bridge is considered one of the most important accomplishments in the field of engineering in the last 20 years. The construction of the bridge became successful after many challenges and the death of many people. The first construction of the bridge was a failure as it collapsed and killed all people who were in the train that was passing across the bridge. The determination of building the bridge is seen when the constructors did not give up and made a major accomplishment in 1990 when the opening of the bridge was officially launched. The Forth Bridge marks a period of quality and excellent engineering constructions (Kawada, 2010). Conclusion In the past twenty and even fifty years, engineering advancements and innovations were at the pick and many technicalities were discovered in that period. It was a period of new developments in the field of engineering and many engineers made great findings which contributed to the great achievements in engineering that we have today. Those advancements play a big role in today’s high-tech engineering because they were a backbone to advancement. There are other achievements in engineering based on the construction of buildings, coming up with new kinds of machines, new innovations and inventions and much other engineering advancement. In the society today, the field of engineering is making great achievements especially in coming up with machines that make work easier for people in the society. More innovations and advancements in engineering should be made. It will improve the quality of life we have and will also create an opportunity for more advancement. Engineering accomplishment means a great accomplishment in the world. Works cited Kawada, Tadaki. History of the Modern Suspension Bridge. Boston: ASCE Publications. 2010 Plank Roger & McEvoy, Michael. Steel Construction Institute Forth Railway Bridge: First steel structure. Architecture and Construction in Steel. New York: Taylor & Francis.p.16. 1995. Douglas G McBeth. 20 Years Ago: Forth Bridge. Retrieved May 29, 2014 from http://www.newsteelconstruction.com/20-years-ago-the-forth-bridge/ Read More