On this day in 1890 the Forth Bridge was opened by the Duke of Rothesay (the future King Edward VII), to carry the Edinburgh-Aberdeen line across the Firth of Forth.

Like our own Victoria Bridge back in 1861, it was designed by Sir John Fowler and has a total length of 8,094 feet, with the double rail track elevated 150 feet above the water level at high tide.
Victoria Bridge is a 200 feet span and at the time was the largest iron span in the country.
To a cantilever design and the first major structure in Britain to be constructed of steel, the Forth Bridge has two main spans of 1700 feet, two side spans of 680 feet, and 15 approach spans of 168 feet.

1887, cantilever towers being built
Construction started in 1882 and at its opening it had the longest single cantilever bridge span (1709 feet) in the world. It remains the world’s second longest span, to Canada’s Quebec Bridge.
Our own Vicky Bridge is in good company 🙂