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Faculty of Design and Technology<br />
A trip to the Queensferry Crossing bridge<br />
Ewan Hughes<br />
The weather couldn’t have been<br />
better as we crossed the Forth<br />
Road Bridge at roughly 9 o’clock<br />
on the morning of the 16th of<br />
September. On our left we could<br />
see the first bridge to be built, the<br />
Forth Rail Bridge and on our right,<br />
the foundations and main struts<br />
for the new Queensferry Crossing.<br />
We then arrived at the information<br />
centre and were taken up to the<br />
main exhibition room where there<br />
was a small model of the three<br />
bridges completed, and many<br />
information slides and posters on<br />
the walls depicting the history and<br />
planned construction stages of the<br />
new bridge.<br />
We were then shown a Powerpoint<br />
presentation with course related<br />
information and facts on the new<br />
bridge including that it would be<br />
207 meters tall when built, which<br />
is 50 meters taller than the Forth<br />
Road Bridge and will be the tallest<br />
of its kind until the completion a<br />
Russian version of the bridge, and<br />
that in total, over 23,000 miles of<br />
cable used, which is almost enough<br />
to stretch around the Earth!<br />
We also learned why the bridge was<br />
needed, which in it’s simplest form,<br />
is due to urgent repairs needed on<br />
the Forth Road Bridge and in order<br />
to complete the repairs the bridge<br />
must be mostly closed, which<br />
would result in a massive detour<br />
costing the Scottish economy more<br />
money than that of the total cost of<br />
the new bridge (which is estimated<br />
at 1.35 billion pounds). We then<br />
participated in solo, small group,<br />
then whole class activities as we<br />
attempted to build a bridge out of<br />
elastic bands and dowelling rod.<br />
With whole class participation and<br />
hard work, our final bridge was a<br />
success, completed within the time<br />
limit, despite our small numbers<br />
compared to previous school<br />
visitors, and is an achievement that<br />
we were all proud of.<br />
It also expanded our knowledge<br />
of bridge structures and gave us<br />
a taste of the kind of activities/<br />
tasks we may be given in later life<br />
when seeking employment in the<br />
engineering industry.<br />
We were then taken outside to<br />
take group pictures of the bridges<br />
before returning to the bus and<br />
heading back to school. I feel that<br />
I speak for the whole group when<br />
I say that it was an enjoyable,<br />
educational trip and a worthwhile<br />
experience which helped greatly<br />
with our knowledge of Engineering<br />
Science and engineering in general.<br />
www.lornshillacademy.org.uk 2 lornshill@edu.clacks.gov.uk
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