Wilhelm Westhofen

“ Arrol should rise and rise quickly; before long he changed from the man-of-all-work to the foreman of the bridge and boiler departments, in the works of Messrs. Laidlaw and Sons, of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Here he remained for some years, gaining the experience which was necessary for his coming advancement. Twenty years ago the time arrived when he considered himself justified in making his first and independent venture, and he boldly launched himself as a contractor and repairing engineer, with the munificent capital of 85l—the savings of his life. ”

“ In speaking of the new lines in connection with the bridge this matter will be further referred to.
The justification for the construction of so great a work must, however, be sought in the desire to serve larger interests than those of local traffic merely. In these days of high pressure, of living and working and eating and drinking at top speed, the saving of an hour or two for thousands of struggling men every day is a point of the greatest importance, and every delay, however excusable and unavoidable, is fatal to enterprise. ”

“ Fowler became the chief engineer, conducting them through Parliament and carrying them out. It was in the year 1843 that this work was commenced, and before it was completed the railway mania attained its full proportions. The history of that movement has often been written; how fortunes were made and ruined in a day; how men lost their reason in a moment both from good and evil tidings, and how the capital subscribed during those years, often for the wildest undertakings, almost rivalled the days of the South Sea Bubble. ”

“ On the contrary, at such times the most heroic efforts were made to succour those in need; but in the every-day work with that fatal familiarity that is said to breed contempt while working on stages which could hardly be made large enough or strong enough to hold the litter of tools and rubbish which they constantly gathered, they were throwing about hammers and drifts and chisels, and pieces of wood, which in a moment were over the side, and tumbled down upon may be three or four other tiers of staging, where men were engaged upon their work. ”

“ In the atmosphere of enthusiasm that naturally surrounds the successful completion of so vast a structure as the Forth Bridge, one is too apt to forget, in presence of the stupendous work, how much is due to the great army of workers who have laboured—blindly in some cases—since the beginning of the century, and to ascribe some of the credit to its creators which is really due to the general advance in mechanical science characteristic of the age. ”

“ Where the electric light came in as a great and lasting boon was in the lighting of the interior of the air chambers and air shafts of the large pneumatic caissons while in the process of sinking. The absence of all smoke or filth due to oil lamps of whatever description, the facility with which they could be moved, changed, put up or taken down, was of incalculable advantage in places where breathing even the purest air was a task of some discomfort and difficulty, and here, therefore, the electric light reigned supreme. ”

“ Engineers of eminence assured them that they could never make the railway, that if they made it they could not work it, and if they worked it nobody would travel by it. Such a catalogue of impossibilities was enough to appal any man, and often faith in the enterprise fell to a low ebb. At such times they would say to Mr. Fowler, "We depend upon you, and as long as you tell us you have confidence we shall go on." ”

“ Industry and applied science in every direction which could be useful to constructive work were progressing steadily and with rapidity. Especially this was the case with the manufacture of iron, which rendered undertakings easy that would have been impossible to the older engineers, who had little at their disposal except timber, stone, and brick. And later, when, in the march of progress, iron had to give way to steel, engineers were enabled to undertake and carry out successfully, undertakings which their immediate predecessors could not seriously consider for want of the proper materials. ”

“ In a whole tide dam, if tight at bottom, when once the water has been pumped out, the work of excavation—of laying the foundation and building a pier or wall—can be carried on without interruption to the end. In the case of a half-tide dam, the space enclosed can only be pumped dry after the tide outside has fallen below the level of the clay puddle wall, and the water requires to be admitted so soon as the tide has turned and is rising again up to that level. Work in a half-tide dam is termed tidal work. ”

“ The sunsets in summer are always magnificent, whether due to Krakatoan volcanic dust or to the vapours of the distant Atlantic, but there have also been many sunrises in early autumn when a hungry man could forget the hour of breakfast, and one could not find the heart to chide the worker who would lay down his tools to gaze into the bewildering masses of colour surrounding the rising light of day. ”

“ When a load is put on the central girder by a person sitting on it, the men's arms and the anchorage ropes come into tension, and the men's bodies from the shoulders downwards and the sticks come into compression. The chairs are representative of the circular granite piers. Imagine the chairs one-third of a mile apart and the men's heads as high as the cross of St. Paul's, their arms represented by huge lattice steel girders and sticks by tubes 12 ft. in diameter at the base, and a very good notion of the structure is obtained. ”

“ The supply, the transport, and the distribution of the materials necessary for the building of foundations and piers containing some 140,000 yards of masonry and also of some 55,000 tons of steel, and a more than equal amount of temporary appliances, was no mean task, and required the exercise of much energy and skill as well as tact and patience, for the work was equally pressing on all points, and no one liked to be left behind in that great race for supremacy. ”

“ The efficient lighting of so large a working area, changing every day almost, having not only to be carried forward with the work, but also upward and in all directions, was a task of considerable magnitude, and of the greatest influence upon the rate of progress. It is not so much the lighting of the actual spot where work is proceeding, but that of the approaches to these points, and of the accessory places, such as stores, engine-houses, workshops, jetties, and landing-places, which runs away with so large a proportion of the total illuminating power. ”

“ It was an awful load to put on the shoulders of a man who had already sufficient to attend to in combating the physical difficulties of the affair. The troubles with vestries and their engineers and officials, with owners of property and their agents, were for many years during the construction of the first section of the Metropolitan Railway tedious and wearying to the last degree. All these were finally overcome, and the line was opened. So far from there being a difficulty in inducing people to travel by it, the traffic astonished the most experienced railway experts. ”

“ In working on a sloping face, whether of rock, silt, or clay, it is good practice to keep the caisson tilted very slightly to the lower side, which has the effect of forcing it up, but this should not amount to more than the natural batter of the outside shell. A few inches one way or the other is of no consequence in so large a caisson, as the pier raised upon it could easily be centred as much as that to either side, but it is just as easy and much better to keep it right from the first. ”

“ Still more was this difficulty felt during the erection of the Inchgarvie north cantilever, when it was necessary to lift all material out of steam barges up to the structure direct, and when the combined influences of tide flow, set of current and wind, made it next to impossible to keep the barges in place for a sufficient time to allow the lifting tackle to be attached even with a most skilful and experienced skipper at the helm. ”

“ Nor must the bridge be looked upon as a thing standing by itself, but rather as a portion—certainly a somewhat expensive portion—of a gigantic system of railway lines converging from all directions upon the capital of Scotland, affording means not only of more speedy and more comfortable travelling, but also giving facilities for the provision of a larger number of those through trains which are constantly becoming more necessary by the yearly addition of many miles of both main lines and branch lines. ”

“ He entered upon every scheme with the greatest ardour, and no sooner were the plans completed than he urged the giving out of the contracts and the commencement of the work. In Mr. Fowler the Khedive found the very man he wanted—one whose ability was only equalled by his rectitude. National prosperity, however, is not to be founded by railways, docks and canals alone. Its basis lies in good government and the just administration of wise laws; but it is not our business to go into the politics of Egypt further than to explain the condition of affairs when Mr. Fowler came in contact with them. ”

“ A revenue of 10 per cent, on the capital expended was considered a very moderate estimate, which proves that the art of writing a highly coloured prospectus is of older date than most people would have thought. To judge by the estimate the designer can hardly have intended to put more than from 2000 to 2500 tons of iron into the bridge, and this quantity distributed over the length would have given the structure a very light and slender appearance, so light indeed that on a dull day it would hardly have been visible, and after a heavy gale probably no longer to be seen on a clear day either. ”

“ Arrol—when times grew better—returned to Scotland, and found employment in various capacities, for all of which he was thoroughly fitted, by virtue of his energy, industry, and versatile talent. Whether working as a blacksmith, a fitter, or a boilermaker, his work was well done, and was always characterised by the touch of originality which distinguishes the man born to command from one made only to obey. ”

“ The progress of committee work was watched with keenest interest by men who did not know an embankment from a cutting, but who took advantage of every turn of the fight to manipulate the share market. They listened to the evidence of the engineer and sold and bought accordingly. If he tripped in his advocacy of a measure, or was foiled in his attack on a hostile scheme, they hurried to anticipate the effect on the money market. ”

“ Thus in the bottom members alone, at every vertical tie and at every junction, the necessary corrections required the placing of temporary struts and wire rope ties, and in most cases when finally fixing the horizontal wind-bracing girders, similar girders had to be placed to fix the position of the member. A repetition of this kind of work with every tie and strut, in bottom members and top members, at every vertical tie, and at every intersection, made up an amount of work of which no visible trace is left, yet which was as real in its day as any which helped to build up the mighty fabric. ”

“ The choice of a material for constructing a bridge of novel design, of extraordinary magnitude, and exposed during erection to the effects of powerful atmospheric disturbances, must have been the subject of much anxious thought and reflection to the engineers. ”

“ At night too a sight is presented not easily forgotten; the flashing lights of the May and of Inchkeith, and many others stationary, such as the harbour lights of Granton, Leith, Newhaven, and Burntisland combine to form a beautiful picture. At times of continued east wind, when large and small craft run for shelter in the Firth, it is not unusual to see from 150 to 200 vessels anchored in the roads, and the long straggling lines of their masthead lights give the appearance of a busy town of many streets having suddenly risen from the waters. ”

“ The ground rises from the edge of the deep water channel towards the shore with a gentle slope, the clay disappearing about half-way up, and giving place to ledges of freestone rock. It will thus be seen that the natural configuration of the ground on the centre line of the bridge, offers points or three main supports, of which the two outer ones are about equidistant from the central one, thus indicating two large spans of equal length, while the remaining spaces to be traversed on both shores, offer every facility for the construction of satisfactory foundations. ”

“ The Board of Trade stipulations in regard to steel for structures, do not go further than to lay down the rule that the maximum working stress should not exceed one-fourth of the ultimate breaking strain of the steel. No difference is made between the tensile and compressive stresses, nor is any regard paid to the differences between stresses due to dead load or live load alone or in combination nor to the circumstances arising from changes, occurring frequently or rarely, in the nature of the stresses. ”

“ Great care was required during this early stage of the work, and the weight of the caisson regulated to a nicety, for there was nothing but its buoyancy to prevent it from suddenly descending and smothering the men below. At low water was naturally the most dangerous time, there being the least displacement in action then, while the weight was greatest, and moreover the cutting edge resting upon a treacherous ground. The men were generally withdrawn at this time, and the air pressure diminished, allowing the caisson to descend as far as it would go. ”

“ At every butt—that is, every 8 ft.—is placed a circular girder or diaphragm, which consists of ten wings placed between the beams and rivetted to the shell, the wings projecting beyond the beams to the extent of about 3 in. An angle-iron ring running right round takes up all the wings to its web, while its heel is rivetted to each of the beams in succession, and thus combines the whole into a stiffening girder. At considerable distances apart, heavy plate-diaphragms are inserted which only leave a manhole in the centre to pass through. ”

“ But apart from these, it is no exaggeration to say that no one need desire to have to do with a more civil or well-behaved lot of men, always ready to oblige, always ready to go where they were told to go, cheerfully obeying orders to change from one place to another, and, above all things, ready to help others in misfortune, not with advice but with hands and purses. ”

“ In bad weather, or during fogs, and on dark mornings and nights the transport of many hundreds of men—some nine hundred working on Inchgarvie alone at one time—was a subject of unceasing care and anxiety to those in charge, for in addition to the dangers provided by the elements, there was always a number of unruly and reckless men whose conduct brought mishap and injury on others as often as on themselves. ”

“ Again, on the top of the bottom end girder of the cantilever, outside the loaded box, a piece of steel C is laid, which touches, or nearly touches, another cast-steel plate D, let into the masonry of the pier, and bolted to it by holding-down bolts. Independent therefore of the counterpoise placed at this end, which prevents the cantilever lifting under any conditions of train load or fixed load, there is provision made to prevent its rising should an unusually heavy gust of storm-wind strike the end of the free cantilever, and thereby try to lift up this. ”

“ Engineering had, in fact, been reduced to a science that replaced the more or less experimental pursuit which had occupied the previous generation, and the foundation ad been securely laid for the development which to-day distinguishes the profession throughout the world. But it was not alone the early engineers who bequeathed a rich inheritance of experience to their successors. ”

“ Baker does not labour under the common illusion that a very great undertaking must necessarily be the work of very great men; and, indeed, he told the Mechanical Engineers at Edinburgh that he would be sorry not to believe that there were plenty of engineers and contractors in England, Europe, and America capable of building a Forth Bridge, if called upon to do so ”

“ In the first instance the distribution of weight not only offers the advantage of having the greatest proportion, nearly one-fourth of it, immediately over the main supports, where it is most easily erected, but it offers in those places where the wind pressure would act with the greatest amount of leverage, the least amount of surface to act upon. Thus, while in the central tower of the Inchgarvie pier, the most exposed to storms, the weight per foot run is 23 tons, and in the first bay of cantilevers 21 tons, in the central girders of 350 ft. ”

“ From the drawbacks mentioned above which attached to the electric arc lights, the Lucigen lamps, which were also introduced at an early period, were entirely free, though their shortcomings cannot be overlooked. There can be no doubt that for general work of erection they are the best for light, the simplest to keep in order, and the easiest to attend to. The disadvantages are that they are difficult to keep clean, as a good deal of the oil escapes unconsumed, especially in high winds, and covers girders and staging with a thick coat of slimy oil, making them slippery and unsafe. ”