Description

An item from a collection of papers etc held by the donor depicting Thomas Bouch’s suspension bridge proposal for a railway bridge over the River Forth (2014/003).

An article on page 41 in New Civil Engineer of 14 July 1988 entitled Forth find provides information on the finding of the original painting:

An extraordinary painting of the original Forth bridge proposals has been discovered in the offices of solicitors Robson, McLean & Paterson who represented the Forth Bridge Company in the 19th century. It is now to be displayed at the Forth Bridge Visitor Centre in South Queensferry, which ICE did much to help establish
Thomas Bouch’s suspension bridge proposal, promoted in 1873 by the newly formed company, was influenced by American practice and represented a major departure from the more usual rigid form of structure for British railway bridges. Two 1600 feet spans were envisaged, supported by 550ft high towers giving a clear headroom between piers of at least 150 feet. There would have been two rail lines 100 feet apart, each supported by a pair of laterally stiffened lattice girders, and the bridge would have been entirely in steel.
An Act was obtained in 1873 and a contract had already been signed with Arrol & Co when, in 1879, Bouch’s Tay bridge collapsed and the design was abandoned. It would have been the largest bridge of its kind in the world. However RMcL&R remained solicitors to the company and retained many of the records.
The firm has also presented a montage of photographs of senior personnel involved in construction of the bridge, and these too will be on display at the centre this summer.

This item was loaned to South Ayrshire Council for an exhibition Spanning the Centuries Sir William Arrol’s Legacy in Steel, Stone, and Culture. Roselle House Museum & Galleries, Ayr. February – May 2023.