FORTH BOAT TOURS – DEMAND FOR CRUISES ON THE FORTH SOARS AS BRIDGE’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES

The Forth Road Bridge, one of the world’s most significant long-span suspension bridges, celebrates its 60^th birthday on September 4 and Forth Boat Tours – Edinburgh’s award-winning boating attraction – will take visitors for up-close views of this iconic bridge during the festivities.

The family-owned South Queensferry business will be operating a full timetable of cruises to Inchcolm Island on September 4 and 7 and, as always, will be taking their customers underneath the iconic Forth Road Bridge to view the structure as they have never seen it before.

A series of events is scheduled to mark the anniversary including walks from both sides of the bridge, Tower Top Trips and vintage bus rides across the span.

The Forth Road Bridge has been offering ‘Guid Passage’ since opening on September 4, 1964. With a main span of 1,006 metres between the two 156-metre-tall towers, the structure is more than 2.5 km long. The bridge is so vast that it’s difficult to comprehend the sheer scale of the engineering challenge whilst crossing the bridge.

The best views are of the Road Bridge are available from the Firth of Forth, where the scale of the undertaking becomes apparent. The Road Bridge uses the tough whinstone of the Mackintosh Rock as a foundation for its northern tower and further strengthening work was completed in the 1990s to protect both towers from the risk of a collision with the large vessels which now use the Firth of Forth.

Forth Boat Tours’ Sales and Marketing Manager, Alastair Baird, said: 

“The Forth Road Bridge is a major feature of the Scottish landscape and an icon of Scottish engineering. As a local family business, our office at Port Edgar Marina is located beneath the Forth Road Bridge.

“Forth Boat Tours are proud to be part of the Road Bridge’s 60^th Anniversary celebrations. We sail year-round and our cruises take thousands of visitors to view the three bridges and to tell them more about their hsitory with our on-board commentary. Professional engineering organisations, societies, and education groups from universities around the world also charter our vessels for engineering tours.

“For a unique perspective on the 60^th Anniversary celebrations, we recommend booking early to secure a place on the cruises departing during the commemoration of the official anniversary on September 4 – and during the festivities over the weekend of September 7 and 8.”

Forth Boat Tours’ Inchcolm Island Cruises depart four times a day at 11am from Hawes Pier, South Queensferry, between April 1 to October 31. This cruise passes beneath all three of the Firth of Forth’s bridges, offering a unique perspective on these iconic feats of Scottish engineering. Book online at www.forthtours.com

• For media facilitation trips to the Forth Road Bridge – including filming requests – during the 60th Anniversary celebrations, contact Alastair Baird at Forth Boat Tours on 0131 331 3030 or Alastair@forthtours.com

ABOUT FORTH BOAT TOURS

Family owned Forth Boat Tours is Edinburgh’s Premier Boating Attraction. Forth Boat Tours operates three vessels: the Forth Belle, the Queensferry Belle and the historic Forth Princess – a veteran of the D-Day landings during WWII. Cruises depart daily all year round from its base at Hawes Pier, South Queensferry. Forth Boat Tours was named Best Activity Day Out in the 2019 Days Out with the Kids Awards and Best Hidden Gem in the Tiqets Global Awards 2020.

ABOUT THE FORTH ROAD BRIDGE

Completed in 1964 after a six-year construction phase, the Forth Road Bridge was open by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on September 4, 1964. Some 40,000 tonnes of steel, 125,000 cubic metres of concrete and 30,000 miles of high-tensile steel wires were spun together to form the main cables.

The bridge required additional strengthening work in the late 1990s due to the weight of heavy goods traffic it was carrying, which significantly exceeded initial projections.

Since the opening of the Queensferry Crossing in 2017, the Forth Road Bridge is today only open to buses, light motorcycles, cyclists and pedestrians.