#SCOTLAND has won UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the Forth Bridge.
The red bridge which has carried trains across the Forth since 1890 now ranks alongside the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, and the Sydney Opera House in terms of cultural significance, plus other World Heritage sites in Scotland: New Lanark, St Kilda, the Old and New Towns in Edinburgh, Neolithic Orkney, and the Antonine Wall.
Designed by Sir John Fowler and Benjamin Baker, it measures 1.5 miles, weighs 53,000 tons, and was at the time the world's longest multi-span cantilever bridge.
The UNESCO inspection report stated: ‘This enormous structure, with its distinctive industrial aesthetic and striking red colour, was conceived and built using advanced civil engineering design principles and construction methods. Innovative in design, materials and scale, #theForthBridge is an extraordinary and impressive milestone in bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long-distance land travel.’
#VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay said the award would lend ‘even greater aura and appeal to one of the planet's most instantly recognizable landmarks’.
There are now more than 1,000 World Heritage Sites across the globe, in 161 countries. Of these, 29 are British, including the Tower of London, the Giant's Causeway, the city of Bath, and Stonehenge.
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