0:00:08 > 0:00:12In 1958, Scotland embarked on a huge construction project
0:00:12 > 0:00:15which would be six years in the making.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21One young film-maker was given unique access to record
0:00:21 > 0:00:24the building of this feat of modern engineering.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31His intimate footage helps tell the story behind one of Scotland's
0:00:31 > 0:00:34greatest landmarks
0:00:34 > 0:00:38and provides new insight into our industrial heritage.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50The Forth Road Bridge was to be the longest stretch
0:00:50 > 0:00:53of suspended roadway anywhere in Europe.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01No British engineer had ever built anything like it.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Today, 50 years on,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10it carries some 24 million vehicles across the Forth every year.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38There is always a wee shiver of fear before you start.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Not fear but just a bit of anticipation.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Bridgemaster and Chief Engineer Barry Colford
0:01:46 > 0:01:49has worked on the Forth Road Bridge for 18 years.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56I had never really appreciated the size of Forth Road Bridge
0:01:56 > 0:02:00and when I got here, I was astounded by the scale of it.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Today, Barry and Engineering Manager Chris Tracey are inspecting
0:02:05 > 0:02:08the huge cable from which the road is suspended.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13Chris! Did you see the paint there?
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Yeah, the sealing looks quite good, though.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Bridges are about connectivity between places
0:02:19 > 0:02:22and big bridges capture the public's imagination.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27The bridge is working very hard.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31It's not been designed for the level of traffic that it's taking today.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36It's taking almost 50% more load than it was ever designed for.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39All of the traffic, all the load
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and the weight of the bridge is suspended in midair.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46It's very simple.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49It's just like a rope bridge over the Andes, except it's made of steel.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56It's just flaking a wee bit in places.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Just a...minor, minor areas of flaking in that paintwork.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18I had a cine camera. I was interested in making films.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23I heard that the big scheme of a new bridge across the Forth was
0:03:23 > 0:03:27coming up, so I thought I'd try and record it.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34In his spare time, amateur film maker Jim Hendry decided to
0:03:34 > 0:03:37document the building of the Forth Road Bridge.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I would go down occasionally, probably at the weekend
0:03:41 > 0:03:46and see what was happening and just take what was going on
0:03:46 > 0:03:52at the time but very soon, I met the resident engineer, Jack Hamilton.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54He was very helpful
0:03:55 > 0:04:00and took me across the river in his wee boat a few times.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Mr Hamilton must have spoken to the men because I just went on
0:04:07 > 0:04:12and they took me to whatever was happening and I filmed it happening.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15It was... I was given great access.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21A farm inspector by day, Jim filmed throughout the entire
0:04:21 > 0:04:25six years of the build, from 1958 to 1964.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31None of his film has ever been televised until now.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34I've got quite a good head for heights so it didn't worry me
0:04:34 > 0:04:35too much.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40Remember I was 30 then, not 88 as I am now!
0:04:52 > 0:04:55By the time the bridge was begun, a ferry service had been
0:04:55 > 0:04:59running across the Firth of Forth at Queensferry for almost 1,000 years.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03At its peak, the service ran every 15 minutes.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Four boats - they ran until the end of the service
0:05:09 > 0:05:13when the bridge opened and I was on the Robert the Bruce.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Well, they left from the pier behind me here.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17There were just two piers there.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23One boat was at the south side and one boat was at the north side.
0:05:23 > 0:05:24Another two were in the middle
0:05:24 > 0:05:28so that when your neighbour was coming into the north side,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30you were leaving.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33And when you got to the south side and unloaded and loaded again,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37the other boat was coming to chase you out again.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Four lanes of traffic.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43From here up... right up to the anchor gates.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47I started on the ferries when I was 15.
0:05:47 > 0:05:53And I was there until the service finished and fair enjoyed it.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Between them, former ferry skippers Jim Taylor and Stephen Reid served
0:05:58 > 0:06:04almost 40 years carrying passengers between North and South Queensferry.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06When they first mentioned a bridge, I thought,
0:06:06 > 0:06:11"Right, it's times I was thinking about something else."
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Well, you just accepted there was going to be a bridge there.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Everybody kept talking about it but it seemed to come on very sudden.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28My father had a kiosk on the pier that sold teas and coffees
0:06:28 > 0:06:29and everything.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35You were very busy in the morning with the people going to Edinburgh
0:06:35 > 0:06:37and coming over from Edinburgh.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43They took roughly 30 cars.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47They'd take lorries, buses, caravans and passengers, of course.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54Every day was different, every trip was different.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Different traffic, different weather conditions, different tides.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03On a Sunday, they would come down from Edinburgh by bus.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Never had cars. Cross on the ferry. That was their Sunday trip.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10A look round the village, boat back and a bus to Edinburgh again.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12That was their Sunday outing.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19We had very many regular travellers. Hundreds of regular travellers.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21You know, you didn't know their names.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23You looked at their car coming down the pier and said,
0:07:23 > 0:07:28"Here's a tea without milk and a pie," or whatever they wanted, you know.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29You had it ready for them.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Probably roundabout the early '50s,
0:07:36 > 0:07:42it began to be mooted that there was going to be a bridge in the future.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45So it just was a very real fear that we were going
0:07:45 > 0:07:47to lose our livelihoods eventually.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56The queues for the ferry boats, especially at weekends,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59used to come all along the front. Right along the prom.
0:08:01 > 0:08:07The traffic was enormous at this side, traffic going south.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10We were running half the night trying to clear the traffic.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18They'd been trying for at least 200 years to get a bridge or a
0:08:18 > 0:08:24tunnel to cross the Forth, because they were aware that this was
0:08:24 > 0:08:29a main link between the south of Scotland and the Highlands.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Going back a bit to the early '50s,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37you could sit at the pier for 15 minutes and leave with nothing.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Nobody had cars.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43And then all of a sudden, everybody had cars and we just couldn't cope.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Cars for the first time
0:08:46 > 0:08:51really became available to working-class population.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Before that, you had to be rich to own a car.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59You could see they needed a bridge. It was hopeless.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08RADIO: 'Broke down just now. We had 8-8 out earlier and he's not logged off.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10'Just wondering if he's still out.'
0:09:10 > 0:09:13There are about 70 people here working full-time.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18And 40 odd of these are involved in maintenance.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23For Bridgemaster Barry Colford and his team,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26keeping the bridge functioning is a huge operation.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31These are our maintenance painters who are painting all of these
0:09:31 > 0:09:34sets of hangers, all 700-odd of them,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38sets of hangers and we're doing this side, the west side this year.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Since bridge tolls were abolished in 2008,
0:09:43 > 0:09:48the maintenance programme has been funded by the Scottish government.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50The bridge itself, this structure,
0:09:50 > 0:09:55cost about £12 million to build in 1964.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59To date, £259 million has been spent on the operation
0:09:59 > 0:10:02and maintenance of the bridge since it was opened.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07We have staff in the control room,
0:10:07 > 0:10:12working 24-7 because we carry out works overnight.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16And our maintenance crews are then working on the carriageway,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19work that they can't do during the day because it would cause too
0:10:19 > 0:10:23much disruption but outwith overnight working, we're working painting,
0:10:23 > 0:10:28welding, fabricating bits of steel, repairing, patching.
0:10:28 > 0:10:34It is a continuous job and it has been since the bridge was opened.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47In 1958, the first pile of the Forth Road Bridge
0:10:47 > 0:10:53was driven into the rock under the waters of the Firth of Forth.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58The Forth was the first, the largest suspension bridge
0:10:58 > 0:11:01outside of America and it was the largest in Europe.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06At the time, the longest suspension bridge in the world
0:11:06 > 0:11:09was San Francisco's Golden Gate.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Its distinctive design was what the ambitious
0:11:11 > 0:11:14bridge across the Forth was to be based on.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Basically, there are two ropes
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and the two ropes are supported at either end just by the towers
0:11:21 > 0:11:27and the anchorages and all the load from the deck and the vehicles,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30every vehicle and every pedestrian and cyclist who crosses it,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34is supported by those two cables via the vertical hanger ropes
0:11:34 > 0:11:37that take the load from the deck up to the main cables.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44It must have taken a tremendous leap of faith by the engineers
0:11:44 > 0:11:46who designed it, to be able to say "That will work",
0:11:46 > 0:11:51because the leap from what was built before was quite large.
0:11:52 > 0:11:58Everything had to be tested and double-tested, because it was new.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02You know, for the engineers it was new, for the workmen it was new.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03Everybody was learning on the job.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08RADIO: 'Wind tunnel tests confirm that slender suspension bridges
0:12:08 > 0:12:14'can be liable in a steady wind to both vertical bending and tortional oscillation.'
0:12:14 > 0:12:17What we do know is that the three big bridges that had been
0:12:17 > 0:12:20built in the world before then were all built in rather benign...
0:12:20 > 0:12:23more benign climates than here.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28The thing they were afraid of was the repetition
0:12:28 > 0:12:31of the Tacoma Rapids Bridge in America.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47It literally shook itself to bits in gales not half
0:12:47 > 0:12:49the strength of the ones that hit the Forth.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Tacoma Narrows Bridge had failed in 1941
0:13:00 > 0:13:04and that was a significant shock to the engineering community.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07The stiffening girder here is there because of Tacoma.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09The bridge was made a lot stiffer
0:13:09 > 0:13:11because of the lessons learned at Tacoma.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28By the time construction began in September 1958, the estimated
0:13:28 > 0:13:35cost of the bridge with its new approach roads was £16.2 million.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38No company in the UK was large enough to take on the job alone
0:13:38 > 0:13:42so a consortium, the ACD Bridge Company, was formed.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48The company set about assembling a workforce from all over the country.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54When I was at school and I heard about the bridge,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57they started to build concrete towers beside us,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00actually beside my mother's house and I says,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03"I'm going to get a job on the bridge."
0:14:03 > 0:14:07And I went down on the Friday when I left school and they said,
0:14:07 > 0:14:13"Start Monday." And that was me. I was so proud.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I was a typist.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19And I just did all sorts of things. I also...
0:14:19 > 0:14:20SHE LAUGHS
0:14:20 > 0:14:24I can remember washing the engineer's socks!
0:14:25 > 0:14:30My first job that I had after leaving college was with Mot, Hay and Anderson,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35who along with Freeman Fox and Partners were the consulting engineers for the bridge.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37I joined as a student.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40Because you had to do summer placements
0:14:40 > 0:14:43and I was lucky to get a job on the Forth Bridge.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48They took over this house, which was right in the site at the bridge
0:14:48 > 0:14:52and I worked in the office there.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55And we had our lunch there every day.
0:14:55 > 0:15:01- Yeah, yeah. Corned beef hash. - Corned beef hash. Mince pies.
0:15:01 > 0:15:02They were all young lads
0:15:02 > 0:15:06and they used to have these big thick socks that they wore
0:15:06 > 0:15:09under their boots or their wellingtons and what have you
0:15:09 > 0:15:14and they would say, "Do you think you could wash these through for me?"
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Wonderful camaraderie between the staff members and what not.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21It was a unique situation with so many of us
0:15:21 > 0:15:26at the same age group and no, working hard but playing hard as well.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Amongst the first workers on the site was a team of highly
0:15:37 > 0:15:40experienced deep-sea divers.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Generally, there were about four divers at a time,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47two on the north side, two on the south side, working on the coffer dams.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52The divers worked alone under the deep,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54dark waters of the River Forth.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Their main task was assisting in the building of the huge coffer dams,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00into which the two main towers would be sunk.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06The idea of the coffer dams was to pump the water out eventually
0:16:06 > 0:16:08and then the engineers could work in the dry.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15Because you had to jackhammer some rock away, clear stones and mud
0:16:15 > 0:16:20away to get sandbags or concrete bags in to seal up the leaking parts and
0:16:20 > 0:16:25then they put the pipes down through and the concrete was pumped in.
0:16:25 > 0:16:26And that was basically the job.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30And without the divers,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33that particular job could not have been done.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37It needed a human diver there to do the jobs that had to be done
0:16:37 > 0:16:40underwater, otherwise it could not have been done.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44The building of a bridge then was a lot different than how
0:16:44 > 0:16:48bridges are built now. It was very labour-intensive.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52There was a lot of plant on site but a lot more labour-intensive than it is now.
0:16:52 > 0:16:58Diving into the Forth and sometimes it could be very, very cold
0:16:58 > 0:17:01and you were as quick as you could get down to the job to get started,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04because once you started working, you warmed up.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11All divers in black water work by touch.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14It's just like being a blind person.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Film-maker Jim Hendry was there to document those early stages.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23Well, it was time to build up the story of the whole thing going on.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26I'm a fairly mechanically minded person
0:17:26 > 0:17:30and I started looking forward myself to each stage coming on.
0:17:33 > 0:17:39After the divers had got a firm base, they put...concrete was poured
0:17:39 > 0:17:44until it came above sea level and er,
0:17:44 > 0:17:49then the heavy boxes of the main towers started to arrive.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58The towers were being erected and they came in big sections
0:17:58 > 0:18:01and one section got lifted on top of another.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07And there came the day when the last section was lifted up.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14The biggest moment was when they got the towers built
0:18:14 > 0:18:18and they got the towers built, the tower started to sway,
0:18:18 > 0:18:23and it was swivelling, I think it was six feet, either way.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26The Americans actually thought it was going to collapse,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29the main towers.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34I remember being up there and you got the impression that you were still
0:18:34 > 0:18:38but when you looked at the railway bridge, it was going up and down.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42So it was the ultimate feeling of seasickness.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47And we had to put cables and a shock absorber system to damp out
0:18:47 > 0:18:52the sway of the towers, until the cables were put on top.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Working at height presented challenges for the workers
0:19:00 > 0:19:03but it was the weather that was their worst enemy.
0:19:08 > 0:19:14The wind came up - 15 minutes, you could have a full-scale storm
0:19:14 > 0:19:16and just hit you as quick as that
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and just the whole bridge was jumping all over the place.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23Really quite frightening to see masses of steel
0:19:23 > 0:19:26moving about how it did.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32There were a couple of very bad winters.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38The hand walks were coated with ice.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46And they had to bring in special heating to thaw things out
0:19:46 > 0:19:52in the morning and by night-time, they were frozen up again.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05It was cold.
0:20:05 > 0:20:11I mean, there were no what you call thermal underwear at that time
0:20:11 > 0:20:15and people wore ski trousers or an old pair of pyjama trousers or
0:20:15 > 0:20:17something like that underneath,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20because it was cold and the draught came right up your legs.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24You know, you'd put something around your ankles, that type of thing.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35The building of the bridge had a huge impact on communities
0:20:35 > 0:20:37living on both sides of the Forth estuary.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45New approach roads had to be built north and south of the bridge
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and anything that stood in their path was bulldozed.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55The only part that we recognise is the Admiral, some of the Admiral's trees.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57- Yeah.- The rest's gone.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00For sisters Jeanette Ewing and Anne Turnbull,
0:21:00 > 0:21:05the arrival of the bridge was to change their families' lives forever.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10We grew up at Ferrytoll Cottage. It was on its own.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Beautiful house inside.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17All the huge fields to play in,
0:21:17 > 0:21:23the swamp to play in and the Forth to fish in. It was beautiful.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25We were the wild children!
0:21:25 > 0:21:30The Davises. Everybody knew us.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34The Davis family had lived at Ferrytoll Cottage on the north side
0:21:34 > 0:21:37of the Firth of Forth for three generations.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42It was an old harbour where the boats came in
0:21:42 > 0:21:46and then the dockyard reclaimed that land that we called the Swamp.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48It wasn't a swamp. But it was our swamp.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53- Ferrytoll Cottage would be over there, wouldn't it?- Yeah.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03They got a letter from the Government and my father ignored it, didn't he?
0:22:03 > 0:22:04Yeah, he didn't want to know.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09And then he got another one saying that he had to get out
0:22:09 > 0:22:13because there was going to be the building of the bridge.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And he just ignored it and ignored it until it was too late.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25They were blasting for the new road, for the new motorway onto the bridge.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27Just opposite.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30And one day, my mother was sitting in the toilet and a great big
0:22:30 > 0:22:35boulder came flying through the roof and it broke the bath in half.
0:22:35 > 0:22:41We were at school and when we came home and there was workmen on the roof
0:22:41 > 0:22:46putting a tarpaulin on it and my mother was very shaken, wasn't she?
0:22:46 > 0:22:50- She certainly was.- And we went into the toilet and there was no bath.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52It was just shattered.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57And that was that. It had just come right through. It was devastating.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02We found out we were moving to a council house in Dunfermline.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07All the furniture was either given away,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11sold or burnt in the back garden. All beautiful antique furniture.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Our father would have clung on, roof or no roof.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18- I think we all would have.- Yes. - Didn't want to leave.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22- It was a bereavement.- It was heartbreaking, wasn't it?- Yeah.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37To give the bridge workers access to the newly assembled steel
0:23:37 > 0:23:42towers, wire mesh catwalks were installed high above the water.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48The catwalk is made up of these 20 ropes, wire ropes,
0:23:48 > 0:23:53with panels ten foot by ten foot, wire mesh panels
0:23:53 > 0:23:57and they were formed into 300-foot trains.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00The erectors would sit on the mesh panels
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and jump with their feet to overcome the initial friction,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06to move the panels ten feet
0:24:06 > 0:24:10so that the next panel could be put on at the tower top.
0:24:10 > 0:24:16Actually, the catwalks was open mesh, wire mesh.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17Big sides of them.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20You weren't going to fall off them or anything like that.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Unless you bounced down, as we did, because it was bouncy.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32You just walked right up the middle of the mesh.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37You had wire either side of you, there was wire either side.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39You used to just walk up.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42I'd rather walk it as take the boat, cos I used to get seasick!
0:24:44 > 0:24:47As the temporary walkways neared completion,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50everybody wanted to be first to walk across the Firth.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55One man was officially acknowledged as the first to cross on foot.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Jimmy Laverty, the steel erecting foreman, he actually got
0:25:01 > 0:25:06a medal for walking right across the bridge from one end to the other.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Jim Hendry made sure he was there to film the moment.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15I just followed him out.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Just in the middle of the bridge and I did ask him
0:25:19 > 0:25:25to look over the edge and cut in a shot then of a ship passing.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32I was leaning on one of the wire ropes and steadied the camera
0:25:32 > 0:25:38that way because a film camera that's jumping about, you can't look at it.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Steel foreman Jimmy Laverty was undoubtedly the first to
0:25:43 > 0:25:46cross the completed catwalks but two young engineers,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49determined to be first over the river,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52had in fact made it across before the walkways were finished.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56They had not quite finished the mesh.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01- But we weren't going to be stopped, were we?- No, no!
0:26:01 > 0:26:04We tightroped across this wire!
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Tightrope act down the cables
0:26:07 > 0:26:12so that we could become the first people to cross the bridge.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16And we were. As we came off that last bit onto the ground, we counted one, two,
0:26:16 > 0:26:21- three and stepped off together. - So we were first equal. - Shake my hand!- First equal!
0:26:24 > 0:26:26It was challenging.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29The men were out on the catwalks, as I say,
0:26:29 > 0:26:34for about eight hours continuous and one of the things which they...
0:26:34 > 0:26:39we did was that we had tea boys, with big urns on their back.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Kevin Minelli, he used to take this soup up on his back
0:26:45 > 0:26:51and he was a tea boy, used to walk right up the catwalk mesh and
0:26:51 > 0:26:54delivering them a cup of soup each.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58It started off as stock on the Monday morning
0:26:58 > 0:27:02and by the time it was up on the mesh on a Friday,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06you needed a knife and fork for this thick, warm soup!
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Health and safety was - I wouldn't say it was non-existent
0:27:17 > 0:27:22but it wasn't anything like to a standard that it is today.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Health and safety regulations were not quite so rigorous in those days.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30It was all common sense then.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41People say that they needed nerves of steel
0:27:41 > 0:27:44but I think possibly that they didn't have nerves, that they
0:27:44 > 0:27:49just were at home in that kind of environment.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55Safety was nil. Safety was nil compared to nowadays.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01My philosophy was that to go wherever the erectors went,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05if it was safe enough for me to go, it was safe enough for the erectors.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Seven men died in the making of the bridge
0:28:14 > 0:28:18but only four men died on the bridge itself.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22The first one was Kevin Minelli.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27He was actually coming out of the cabin when the winch,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31the winch, the snatch block snapped
0:28:31 > 0:28:35and it hit Kevin dead centre in the head and killed him that day.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38And I knew him very well.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40I knew him very well, me being a tea boy as well.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47There was two fatalities when the safety net collapsed.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52And you're looking over the bridge. You couldn't do anything.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57You just looked and one of them was hanging onto the scaffolding baton. He lived.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01Bobby Orr.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04I was actually speaking to him that morning before he went up onto
0:29:04 > 0:29:09the bridge and I told him, "Be very careful, Bobby, when you go up there,"
0:29:09 > 0:29:14and it was a toss-up between him and Eddie Rose, who went up
0:29:14 > 0:29:18and Bobby says, "I'll go up." And he went up and he lost his life.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Eddie Rose packed in a fortnight after it.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25He finished up a fortnight after it.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28We were all floored because we all knew one another.
0:29:30 > 0:29:31Total gentleman.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Not like a steel erector like the rough and ready.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37He was a total gentleman. A wee moustache and that.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40He was quite a guy.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Quite quiet but I couldn't believe he was gone, you know.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52And Ted Davis. I knew him as well. He was never, ever found dead.
0:30:01 > 0:30:0722 June, 1962 saw the single worst accident of the whole bridge project.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13The Masterton viaduct, a large section of one of the approach roads,
0:30:13 > 0:30:18collapsed, trapping four men beneath it. Only one survived.
0:30:22 > 0:30:28Naturally, whenever there's a very serious accident, all work stops
0:30:28 > 0:30:30and men are sent home.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36You just... Nobody thought about a safety belt.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41You just got up and walked along the steel and all the rest of it.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43And now, you've got to have your lanyards,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46you've got to be hooked on at all times.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48All times. Which is a good thing.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56RADIO: 'Fred from nine-nine, over.'
0:30:57 > 0:31:01Two bridge personnel accessing the top cord on the southwest main span.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05'Top cord, south west.'
0:31:06 > 0:31:09The function that me and George serve is to come out here,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13look at all the different elements on the structure itself.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16We're looking for any defects that might be there
0:31:16 > 0:31:19so that we can then go in, record them, pass them on to the appropriate
0:31:19 > 0:31:25maintenance supervisor who can then arrange for repairs to be done.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Bridge inspectors Traci Liebisch and George Elliot
0:31:28 > 0:31:32spend their days examining every bolt and beam on the bridge.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Today, we're going down onto the top cord
0:31:36 > 0:31:39and basically just make sure everything is all right.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44It's 50 years old now
0:31:44 > 0:31:49so we're basically constantly got to keep monitoring it, checking it.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51It's very important, very important indeed.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58The enormous increase in the volume of traffic over the years has
0:31:58 > 0:32:02caused significant problems for the bridge's ageing components.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10Tracy is now carrying out inspection of the bolt clusters, just to see
0:32:10 > 0:32:15if there's any broken, sheared, anything likely to be a defect.
0:32:19 > 0:32:20I mean, she's a grand old lady.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23I personally feel she's quite a historic monument
0:32:23 > 0:32:27and Scotland should be proud of having a bridge like this
0:32:27 > 0:32:30so I think she's done not bad in her 50 years so, yeah, I am.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35I'm very proud to work on the structure like this that's known worldwide.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41New, we have the primary beams.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Bottom laterals. Pinned posts.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Rainwater downpipes, et cetera, et cetera.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52TRAFFIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Whilst small parts can be readily replaced,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07some much more significant work is needed underneath the road.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11Users can't see it but underneath the deck,
0:33:11 > 0:33:16there are joints which are wearing out and there's over 700 of them.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18Beneath the suspended carriageway,
0:33:18 > 0:33:22many of the steel joints are so worn as to need replaced -
0:33:22 > 0:33:24a problem which enhances an already distinctive
0:33:24 > 0:33:26part of the bridge's identity.
0:33:29 > 0:33:35All our users are aware of the thump every 18 metres as the vehicle goes across.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37It's a difficult one to solve.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40It will cost a lot of money to replace these joints
0:33:40 > 0:33:43and we'd have to close the carriageway to do it. It is a significant job.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49In 2009, it was concluded that this and other essential work
0:33:49 > 0:33:53could not be done without huge disruption to bridge users.
0:33:53 > 0:34:00Not long afterwards, the decision was made to build a new bridge across the Forth.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Currently under construction, the Queensferry Crossing is due
0:34:03 > 0:34:08to open in 2016, leaving the future uncertain for the Forth Road Bridge.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15The Government have determined that this bridge, the existing
0:34:15 > 0:34:19Forth Road Bridge, will become a public transport corridor and the new bridge
0:34:19 > 0:34:23will take all general traffic, all motorway traffic, so instead of
0:34:23 > 0:34:2770,000 vehicles crossing the bridge, there'll be a couple of hundred.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45I certainly remember when they spun the cables to go over the bridge.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51It was 24 hours a day and it was a big wheel and it went back
0:34:51 > 0:34:55and forward and back and forward and it was like a humming,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57like a humming noise.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04On 17 November 1961, the men began the most difficult
0:35:04 > 0:35:08part of the bridge's construction - the task of creating the main
0:35:08 > 0:35:12suspension cable, using a method known as cable spinning.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18The system of spinning the cables was a fantastic one
0:35:18 > 0:35:23and that was something that had never been done in this country before.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26It was an American idea,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29using a wheel to take the strands across the water.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32That was a new technique and it was very successful.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38The main cable is made up of over 11,000 steel wires.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41The process of spinning the cable involved each individual wire
0:35:41 > 0:35:45being carried across the Forth via a large pulley system.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Workers on the catwalk guided it into place around the clock.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52It was night and day. It was night and day.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58I used to hear it from the house going across.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01You could hear the rattle of the wire going across.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07At either side of the river as the wires reached their destination,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10they were embedded in concrete plugs known as anchorages,
0:36:10 > 0:36:12created to hold the bridge up.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20The creation of the cable anchorages involved blasting a huge
0:36:20 > 0:36:24tunnel into the rock on both sides of the river.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33When they were blasting out the anchorage at the south side,
0:36:33 > 0:36:38they took me over and took me down the anchorage chamber
0:36:38 > 0:36:42in a tub, bucket,
0:36:42 > 0:36:47and it was on rails, down into the anchorage
0:36:47 > 0:36:51and I got a waterproof and a hard hat
0:36:51 > 0:36:58and clambered into this bucket and I always remember, it was the water
0:36:58 > 0:37:03dripping, dripping out of there and it was like a big cavern and that
0:37:03 > 0:37:09was what they filled with concrete and that's where the cables went to.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19This is the really serious end, the business end of the bridge.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23This is the place where the bridge is held up.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26This anchorage extends into a rock tunnel down at the bottom here and
0:37:26 > 0:37:31that rock tunnel extends for about 60 to 70 metres down into the rock.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38Each of these strands here is taking about 350 tonnes of load.
0:37:38 > 0:37:45So that's trying to pull this concrete plug out of the ground.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47The concrete plug is only held in place by friction
0:37:47 > 0:37:49and that's what's holding the bridge up.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58The spinning of the cable took nine months
0:37:58 > 0:38:01with some 30,000 miles of wire being carried back
0:38:01 > 0:38:06and forth across the water, often in high winds and extreme conditions.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14During cable spinning, we lost 33% of our time
0:38:14 > 0:38:19and this was because the winds could blow these cables, going back
0:38:19 > 0:38:23and forward across the river and hung 3,300 feet.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Just looking through my diary,
0:38:26 > 0:38:28I discovered
0:38:28 > 0:38:34the notes of February 1962
0:38:34 > 0:38:40um, and it talks of exceptionally strong gales -
0:38:40 > 0:38:47123mph recorded in Lanarkshire during Sunday night and Monday morning.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51It caused heavy damage to the cables which were being spun.
0:38:54 > 0:39:03The cable from the north tower to the north side tower,
0:39:03 > 0:39:08the temporary restraints and ropes around it burst with the wind
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and it started to splay apart.
0:39:11 > 0:39:18And these wires were thrashing around and got entangled like a girl's pigtail.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20And the next day when the wind stopped and we got back
0:39:20 > 0:39:27on the bridge, there was telephones embedded inside this and equipment.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33It took weeks to get all this stuff back out, untangled from the cable.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39And the men paced out on the catwalks to untangle these
0:39:39 > 0:39:43and so we lost four weeks, due to that storm.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59It's getting up to the point of early afternoon.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03We're starting to get traffic building up for peak.
0:40:05 > 0:40:12Peak can start any time after 3.30pm and finish after 7.30-8.00pm at night.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Northbound, we'll be about ten minutes on the northbound.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19Not much more than that. I'll just check the southbound for you.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23Southbound is running fine. There's no queues or delays there.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Okey-doke. Cheers, then. Bye now. Bye.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35In 2004, it became clear that the once state-of-the-art
0:40:35 > 0:40:39suspension cables were no longer able to cope with the average
0:40:39 > 0:40:42two million vehicles the bridge carries every month.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46We found corrosion within the main cables themselves, so we've
0:40:46 > 0:40:50carried out rehabilitation work. We have installed dehumidification
0:40:50 > 0:40:56which involves blowing dry air very gently through the cabling.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01The idea is, corrosion is caused by two agents - moisture and oxygen.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04If we can get rid of one of them, we can get rid of corrosion.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08We don't know what happens to wires that are already cracked.
0:41:08 > 0:41:09Will they break in future?
0:41:09 > 0:41:13What we have done is we've slowed down any rate of deterioration.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21This is the dehumidification chamber we're passing just now.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26This provides the dry air for pumping into the main cable to keep it
0:41:26 > 0:41:29dry and keep moisture out to prevent further corrosion
0:41:29 > 0:41:33and that further corrosion is the thing that would reduce
0:41:33 > 0:41:36the strength of the cable so we're trying to avoid that.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42When we reported that we couldn't give an unconditional
0:41:42 > 0:41:45guarantee about the future strength of the main
0:41:45 > 0:41:48cable in Forth Road Bridge, the government, I think quite
0:41:48 > 0:41:51rightly, decided to go ahead with the planning of the new crossing.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59By 1963, with the towers and cable in place,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02the suspended road deck began to emerge.
0:42:04 > 0:42:10When we started on deck erection, that was building a Meccano set
0:42:10 > 0:42:12and we built it from the towers out the way.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21The steel erectors had the biggest job, bolting it all together
0:42:21 > 0:42:26and it was big plates, the box girders, splice plates we cry them.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33I certainly can remember thinking, is it going to meet
0:42:33 > 0:42:37in the middle when it's stretched out over the water.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41This is a precision piece of work.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49You see them coming out bit by bit and it's like,
0:42:49 > 0:42:51almost like digging a tunnel, you know
0:42:51 > 0:42:55you wonder if it's going to match up when you get to the point.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00I was there, going across in a boat,
0:43:00 > 0:43:03when the two ends were to meet in the middle.
0:43:03 > 0:43:09And the bridge was actually whipping a bit. The two open ends were just whipping.
0:43:09 > 0:43:10A funny old sight.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Would the bridge come down, and that type of thing, was in your mind.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22On 20 December 1963,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25the north and south sections of the bridge were joined in the middle,
0:43:25 > 0:43:30forming the basis of the fourth-longest suspended span of steel roadway in the world.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37A helicopter came in and men were standing,
0:43:37 > 0:43:43watching the two ends coming together. That was quite a day.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48I think I had to struggle to get a decent place to put my tripod that day!
0:43:57 > 0:44:02They had flags on either end and they hoisted it in.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17And it fitted perfectly.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25And to see them just clicking into place was fabulous.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Then there was Vat 69 from South Queensferry.
0:44:35 > 0:44:41They issued everybody on the bridge with a miniature of whisky
0:44:41 > 0:44:45and we were all rejoicing when that happened.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50The people who built the bridge
0:44:50 > 0:44:54and the engineers who designed it without computers,
0:44:54 > 0:44:58with seven figure log tables - it's quite incredible how well it's built,
0:44:58 > 0:45:01when you look at what they had, the tools they had to do it with.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07I can't help but start to look at it after a while,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10a bit like a long line of washing, you know.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Cos you've got all these lines hanging down and the more I learn
0:45:13 > 0:45:17about the engineering of the bridge, and having been back and forth across it,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21it's the sense that it's actually quite a precarious structure.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25It actually gets more delicate as I look at it rather than less,
0:45:25 > 0:45:28so you've got this amazing tension between
0:45:28 > 0:45:33sort of really tough engineering but stretched over this huge space.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42Most images you see of the Forth Road Bridge are probably photography,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46right from it's very start, it has been photographed massively
0:45:46 > 0:45:51but it doesn't naturally lend itself to drawing or painting as such.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58There are people that say the road bridge is just a viewing platform for the rail bridge
0:45:58 > 0:46:01but I think of them a bit like a salt-and-pepper, you know?
0:46:01 > 0:46:03You can't have one without the other.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09It's like an arena. It's like an empty stage set.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12You just have to stand here and then stuff happens, you know.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14You have entrances and exits like in the theatre
0:46:14 > 0:46:19and if you think about it as an artist, you're the still point
0:46:19 > 0:46:24and everything else is moving around you, so a lot of the work
0:46:24 > 0:46:26that I'm doing with the road bridge is more about the act
0:46:26 > 0:46:30of crossing as it is about the structure of the bridge as an object.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33It's the fact that you're heading from the north of Scotland to the
0:46:33 > 0:46:35south of Scotland and back and it's
0:46:35 > 0:46:38that linking of communities and people.
0:46:44 > 0:46:48Building the bridge, you know, absolutely transformed the country.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50It transformed trade.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54When you think of the volume of traffic that goes across that
0:46:54 > 0:46:56bridge and did from the very beginning.
0:46:56 > 0:47:02You know, people must have been just desperate to get this bridge open.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11To go to Dunfermline, it was like a day out,
0:47:11 > 0:47:15because you went on the ferry boat. Whereas now, you can
0:47:15 > 0:47:18get over to Dunfermline in about 20 minutes, half an hour.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23I think it opened up the whole of Scotland - for a lot of years
0:47:23 > 0:47:25after that, everything came good.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27A lot of work came into Fife through it.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30Because before that, it was just a peninsula in Fife.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32There was nothing there.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36And it opened up a lot of industry, it really, really did.
0:47:37 > 0:47:43For Fife itself, it increased the volume of companies that were
0:47:43 > 0:47:46willing to put up factories.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Because trucks could get back and forward a lot easier,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and bigger trucks than could get on the ferries,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55so it made a big difference, especially on the Fife side.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59The Forth Road Bridge was finally completed in 1964
0:47:59 > 0:48:02and was ready for its grand opening on 4th September.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12People came from all over the country,
0:48:12 > 0:48:16they came from Aberdeen and the islands on that opening day,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20just so they could say they had been there on the opening day.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25And of course the whole thing could have been a shambles,
0:48:25 > 0:48:30because that day dawned absolutely solid fog.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41We were notified there would be two Navy ships out in the river,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45and when we came down in the morning and you listened, and a ship lying
0:48:45 > 0:48:48at anchor, it rings a bell - one there and one there.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51And then we started sailing in the fog,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54out and in them with the compass.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59It had been arranged that the Queen would drive over the bridge,
0:48:59 > 0:49:01then get on the ferry
0:49:01 > 0:49:05and then review the fleet, which was anchored under the bridge.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13I was actually on the flagship. We were underneath the bridge.
0:49:13 > 0:49:18Stern, the quarterdeck of the ship, was right underneath the road.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21Not that we could see it, because it was in fog.
0:49:21 > 0:49:22We had a Royal Marine band
0:49:22 > 0:49:24playing on the quarterdeck, which
0:49:24 > 0:49:30I believe could be heard from the bridge, but we couldn't see a thing.
0:49:30 > 0:49:36So Her Majesty went up on the ferry and reviewed the fleet.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38We never saw her, and she never saw us.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48It was really foggy first thing in the morning, and we thought,
0:49:48 > 0:49:50"Oh, this is going to be a disaster."
0:49:50 > 0:49:55They had lots of tiered seats up on the plaza and they had...
0:49:55 > 0:49:58I think they invited...
0:49:58 > 0:50:04They had kids there from each school, flag waving.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09..The Forth Road Bridge, which replaces Queen Margaret's Ferry.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13May this bridge bring prosperity
0:50:13 > 0:50:18and convenience to a great many people in the years ahead.
0:50:28 > 0:50:33I got the privilege of hoisting the flag for the Queen,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37then just as the Queen was coming across at 11 o'clock,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41the fog started to lift, and we could see her car no bother.
0:50:42 > 0:50:44We were hoisting the flag
0:50:44 > 0:50:46and we were looking down, watching her coming across.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51- I had mixed feelings on that day. - So did I. That's our job finished.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54There was a feeling of pleasure to have been involved
0:50:54 > 0:50:59and finish the project, but sadness that it was all over and done with.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01We all broke up and went our different ways.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06When I'm working on the bridge, it is my bridge.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11When the Queen cuts the tape, and everybody owns it then.
0:51:13 > 0:51:19I was 18 at the time, when I hoisted the flag. It was a great feeling.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22But three weeks after it, we got paid off.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25That was the bridge finished.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29But we got another three weeks out of it, another three weeks.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32We all shook hands and all went our different ways.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40There was a mad dash, of course, for everybody to drive over it.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Everybody wanted to drive over it or be the first to get over or
0:51:43 > 0:51:46one of the first to get over the bridge that day.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49We didn't have a car then.
0:51:49 > 0:51:50SHE LAUGHS
0:51:50 > 0:51:54With the exception of the Queen, every car across the bridge
0:51:54 > 0:51:58had to pay a toll of two shillings and sixpence.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02The presence of the tollbooth led to some unforeseen problems.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05That was the biggest traffic jam that was ever seen in Scotland.
0:52:05 > 0:52:0825 miles, the queues stretched back.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12All the approach roads were blocked solid.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16People were stuck for hours, people were getting out of their cars
0:52:16 > 0:52:19and sitting on the grass verges.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25On the day the bridge opened, the ferry service, which had
0:52:25 > 0:52:30sailed across the Firth of Forth for generations, closed for ever.
0:52:32 > 0:52:33We had been warned long enough.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36I mean, it took four or five years to build the bridge anyway.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40So you kind of knew that something was going to have to change.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44It was a sad day when the ferries finished.
0:52:45 > 0:52:51The four boats lay here for about a week between these piers here.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56And they looked very sad, that was the finish of their life for them.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59When the bridge opened, the pier shop,
0:52:59 > 0:53:03the kiosk on the pier had to close. After 21 years.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05So it was a big part of our lives.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09I mean, we lived down there, really, and all of our family worked -
0:53:09 > 0:53:13my mother and father, my sister and myself, did work in it, you know?
0:53:21 > 0:53:24Mary Queen of Scots, carrying the Queen, was officially
0:53:24 > 0:53:27the last passage across the Forth.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30Unofficially, Captain Stephen Reid continued to sail
0:53:30 > 0:53:35the Robert the Bruce all day, until the last of the queues had dwindled.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39Later that day, he and the other ferry skippers
0:53:39 > 0:53:41began collecting tolls on the bridge.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48I finished about six o'clock and I was on the bridge about 6.30.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52I came into the village to get changed and that, and there was
0:53:52 > 0:53:55a young lad with a motorbike and I said, "Have you been across?"
0:53:55 > 0:53:59Charlie Dewey. "Have you been across the bridge, the new bridge, Charlie?"
0:53:59 > 0:54:01And he says, "No." And I says,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04"Well, hold on, you're going with me in a minute." And he took me across.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07And that was the first time we were across it.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20After Jim Hendry had completed filming at the Forth Road Bridge
0:54:20 > 0:54:25in 1964, he edited his film together and put his camera away for good.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30His resulting film, The Long Span,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33has never been seen on television or in a cinema...
0:54:33 > 0:54:35until now.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42Today, bridge workers past and present have been invited to
0:54:42 > 0:54:45a screening of the original silent film.
0:54:55 > 0:55:03I'm pleased that it's being seen by people and it's amazing that
0:55:03 > 0:55:0850 years have passed since it was finished. I just can't believe that.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21A lot of the diving jobs you did were just day-to-day diving work,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24but at the end of the day on the Forth Road Bridge, it was something
0:55:24 > 0:55:28very important, it was a structure that people would see, which again,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30you think, I have left something behind when I go.
0:55:31 > 0:55:37A lot of memories with the people, you know? Good crowd, really good.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41I often walk over it and I often look up and say,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44"How did I walk up and down that?"
0:55:46 > 0:55:51It's a masterpiece, that road bridge, it's marvellous.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55Marvellous how it is standing up to even the wind.
0:55:55 > 0:56:01The last big gales, it was over 100mph, and it stood up to it.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04I'm fair proud of it, fair proud of that bridge.
0:56:07 > 0:56:08'Pride.'
0:56:09 > 0:56:13Look at it, it's just mathematics in action, isn't it?
0:56:13 > 0:56:17There's nothing on that bridge that isn't there for a reason.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21There's no ornamentation on it, everything works on that bridge.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26If you look at it, it was three and a half years of my life,
0:56:26 > 0:56:29and I can drive over it in about one and a half minutes,
0:56:29 > 0:56:31but it is satisfaction.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33I can see something as an end product
0:56:33 > 0:56:36to my civil engineering career.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43If you want to see an example of Scottish steelmaking
0:56:43 > 0:56:47at its best, you don't have to look further than the Forth Road Bridge.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01'I felt it was quite a privilege to be allowed to'
0:57:01 > 0:57:06go about any of the work places that were busy at the time.
0:57:06 > 0:57:11And as I learned more about it, I was able to look forward to the stages
0:57:11 > 0:57:14that were about to come and be ready to film them.
0:57:48 > 0:57:49'We all think it's our bridge.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54'You hear people speaking about it as if it belongs to them.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57'Of course, it doesn't. It doesn't belong to any of us, but it's
0:57:57 > 0:58:00'fantastic to think that all the people who work here feel that way.'
0:58:06 > 0:58:10'I think it will be carrying traffic for a long time.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13'I am hopeful that in 50 years' time, this bridge will still be here
0:58:13 > 0:58:16'and carrying traffic and serving the communities
0:58:16 > 0:58:18'both in the North and South.'
0:58:32 > 0:58:35Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.
0:58:35 > 0:58:37Ka-dunk, ka-dunk, ka-dunk.
0:58:37 > 0:58:40Thump, thump.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42Ba-doom, ba-doom, ba-doom.
0:58:42 > 0:58:45- Ba-bang.- Clunk, clunk, clunk.
0:58:45 > 0:58:48Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump,
0:58:48 > 0:58:49Bump, bump, bump, bump.
0:58:49 > 0:58:51De-dig, de-dig, de-dig.
0:58:51 > 0:58:53Bloop, bloop, bloop.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56De-duh, de-duh, de-duh. Yeah!