The heroes who built the Forth Road Bridge have been honoured by those constructing the new Forth crossing.
Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown praised their pivotal role in what “was one of the most impressive feats of engineering of the time” and added: “Where else in the world will you find three iconic bridges spanning three centuries and representing the highest standards of civil engineering achieved in each?”
The 30 or so former workers were invited to tour the site of the new bridge by the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors.
FCBC project director Carlo Germani told them: “It is a rare honour and real pleasure for everybody at FCBC to meet some of the talented people who built the new crossing’s famous predecessor.”
In turn, the veterans were delighted to have been given the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane.
“It’s absolutely fantastic,” said 74-year-old George Bowie of Rosyth.
Thanking the men for their “workmanship” on the 49-year-old road bridge, Bridgemaster Barry Colford paused to remember those who could not be there.
“We always remember the seven colleagues killed in its construction, those who helped build the bridge but did not see it completed,” he said.
Opened by the Queen in 1964, the suspension bridge was the first of its kind seen outside America.
While some things have changed since then as Mr Colford pointed out, those working on the road bridge today often wondered, “How did they do that, before computers, when they had slide rules and completely different equipment?” the former workers saw many facets of bridge building had remained the same.
But the world of health and safety is one area of major change, as some reminiscences proved.
Mr Bowie, who has worked across the globe, recalled a precarious short cut home from a night out.
“In the office there was a place for bedding down and it had been known for three or four of us to occasionally party in Edinburgh,” he said. “It wasn’t the first time we walked back across the catwalks high on the incomplete bridge to get back.”
Former Dunfermline Provost and self-confessed “feartie with no head for heights” Les Wood and his long-time friend David Melville also recalled the days when danger was just part of the job.
Working high at the top of the main towers, they had no netting or harness, but a hard hat, “In case we landed on our heads.”
“But we all looked after each other on jobs like that,” Mr Wood said.
“There was even a sign up: It’s not the drop, it’s how you stop,” Mr Melville said.
All spoke of their pride in being associated with the iconic structure.
Mr Brown told the veterans: “Most people, particularly in the east of Scotland, have a real affinity with the bridge.”
That includes Transport Scotland project director David Climie, who also celebrated his own link to the road bridge on Friday.
“I was talking to my dad about this and he told me it was an important milestone for me today as well, as it was the 46th anniversary of my first crossing of the Forth Road Bridge. It is my dad’s 80th birthday today and that is why it is still in his memory.”