Reader "M" sends:
Sir,
I have noted exactly this sort of thing on many
occasions…. where you find an old picture of some sort of
engineering operation, and wonder how the hell this was accomplished
without OSHA rules or paid vacation????
For example, if you
regard images of the construction of the Firth of Forth bridge….
what an undertaking. All by hand, or mostly so. With such precision
and real craftsmanship. Taken for granted by those who were there, an
everyday thing that was done to great acclaim. Still in use to this
day.
These sorts of things bring home what has been lost. -M-
/reply
M
Now I have to go on a google mission, "what is the Firth of Forth bridge?"
Construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. The bridge spans the Forth between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry and has a total length of 8,094 feet (2,467 m). It was the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world until 1917 when the Quebec Bridge in Canada was completed. It continues to be the world’s second-longest single cantilever span. The bridge and its associated railway infrastructure is owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Limited. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge to distinguish it from the Forth Road Bridge, though this has never been its official name.
/snip
The bridge uses 55,000 tonnes (54,000 long tons; 61,000 short tons) of steel and 140,000 cubic yards (110,000 m3) of masonry. Many materials, including granite from Aberdeen, Arbroath rubble, sand, timber, and sometimes coke and coal, could be taken straight to the centre where they were required. Steel was delivered by train and prepared at the yard at South Queensferry before being painted with boiled linseed oil before being taken to where it was needed by barge.
18 Tons of paint are used annually... < what??
Header image from this posting here<<<<
These guys probably didn't complain like my crew nowadays:
Go spend some time reading about that engineering marvel.
