Famous Bridges 19 



a bridge been undertaken on the lines 

 chosen for the Forth. 



The caissons gave some trouble. They 

 had to be floated out and moored in the 

 fairway. This was a ticklish proceeding, 

 and one of them filled and sank through 

 water entering the rivet holes. It tilted out 

 of the vertical, and it took nine months 

 to get it back again. Such a mishap as this 

 not only held up the progress of the work 

 but it involved unneccessary expense. Apart 

 from the misfortune with the caisson no 

 serious delay was experienced. 



Slowly the great arms stretched out 

 towards each other and, as the yards lessened 

 which divided the north from the south 

 side, the workmen entered fully into the 

 race for the honour of the first crossing. 

 The work had been proceeding vigorously 

 in the late 'eighties from both sides, and 

 by the autumn there were only two narrow 

 gaps to be joined up. As September, 1889, 

 drew to its close there was a matter of mere 

 feet dividing each of the two big spans. 

 Who should have the honour of going first 



