LATE SIR WILLIAM ARROL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 88, 21 April 1913, Page 4

LATE SIR WILLIAM ARROL.

The lato Sir William Arrol, whose death was recorded on February 20tli, became famous as the builder of Forth Bridge—still the finest example of its type in existence—belonged to the old type of engineer who rose to emi-j nenco by hard work, courageous persistence in the face of difficulties, and a keen appreciation alike of good work and capable men. In short, his strength lay in his capacity for work and his powers of organisation. An engineering correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” in a special reference to his work says:—Sir William Arrol was not a deeply technical or scientific engineer, like some of his contemporaries, who also rose to eminence in the field of civil engineering during the energetic latter half of the nineteenth century. He was rather an engineering-contractor. His greatest work, tho Forth Bridge, was originally intended to be built as a stiffened suspension bridge, but the Tay Bridge disaster led to a reconsideration of the plans, and tho cantilever type was decided upon instead, work being started upon the foundations in 1883 and the bridge opened for traffic in March, 1890. Although not the first important true cantilever bridge—having been preceded by the Niagara Falls Bridge in 1883—the Forth Bridge by reason of its great size and simple dignity, combined with a good deal of novelty at the time it was built, achieved a world-wide fame accorded to very few engineering works. It has two pure cantilever spans, each with a clear opening 1710 feet wide and 157 feet above water level. The total length of tho bridge, without the girder approaches, is over a mile, and its height at the piers 361 feet. Some 38,000 tons of steel were used in its construction. The Forth Bridge was designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. At the time it was subjected to some criticism as being unduly heavy and unscientifically designed. One sue! criticism was aimed at it by Mr T. Cooper, the eminent American bridge designer.' In the first years of fhi£ century Mr Cooper designed a similai typo of bridge, having one central span 1800 feet, centre to centre. In 1907 this bridge collapsed during construction, owing to weakness in the design—a striking comment on Mr Cooper’s sarcastic references to the Forth Bridge.