Last month I got to walk roll across the new Queensferry Crossing with 49,999 lucky people. We were chosen from a ballot to take part in the once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Queensferry Crossing Experience took place over a weekend before being officially opened by the Queen.
The Queensferry Crossing Experience
The Queensferry Crossing spans 1.7 miles across the Firth of Forth and costs a whopping £1.35bn to build. There were several checkpoints throughout the walk and each was identified with a large sign full of interesting facts about the construction of the bridge. These are some of my favourites:
- Scots have been crossing the Forth since the 12th century; a ferry service operated until 1964
- The world record saw concrete poured 24/7 for 15 days
- The combined steel required for the viaducts is enough for another 23 kelpies
- Each crane used in the building of the towers was strong enough to lift the equivalent of 6 elephants
- The centre tower is 210 meters above high tide which is equivalent to approx. 48 London buses stacked on top of each other
- 23,000 miles of cabling was used – that’s nearly enough to go around the world
- Over 19 million construction man-hours
Once In a Lifetime Experience
The walk across the Queensferry Crossing took us just under one hour to complete. What made the event a once-in-a-lifetime experience was the fact it was built for vehicles only. No pedestrians will ever cross the Queensferry Crossing again. It’s pretty cool to say that we were two of the 50,000 people to be chosen to ever cross the bridge.
Before the event, we were given an information pack and a security pass which we had to wear at all times during the crossing. Our meeting point was at Ingliston Park & Ride and this is where we checked in for the event. There were plenty of disabled parking bays, assistance from staff if required and accessible toilets.
Once checked in we made our way onto the bus, which then took us to the Queensferry Crossing starting point. There were lots of people standing around at the starting point and there were accessible portaloo toilets here too.
Here are some of my favourite photos from the day.
Were you one of the 50,000 participants of The Queensferry Crossing Experience? What has your once-in-a-lifetime experience been? If you haven’t experienced yours yet then what would you like it to be?
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2 Responses
Wow, what a fantastic opportunity, well done M.
Thank you Rob! It was a really cool experience 🙂 Hope you’re well!