| Firth of Forth | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Forth bridges looking northwest | |
  Firth of Forth  Firth of Forth | |
| Location | Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 56°02′53″N3°03′11″W / 56.048°N 3.053°W /56.048; -3.053 |
| Basin countries | Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Designated | 30 October 2001 |
| Reference no. | 1111[1] |
TheFirth of Forth (Scottish Gaelic:Linne Foirthe) is afirth inScotland, an inlet of theNorth Sea that separatesFife to its north andLothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes theestuary of theRiver Forth and several other rivers.[2]
Firth is a cognate offjord, a Norse word meaning a narrow inlet.
Forth stems from the name of the river. This is*vo-rit-ia ('slow running') inProto-Celtic, yieldingFoirthe inOld Gaelic andGweryd in Welsh.[3]
It was known asBodotria inRoman times and was referred to asΒοδερία inPtolemy'sGeography. In theNorsesagas, it was known as theMyrkvifiörd.[4] An earlyWelsh name isMerin Iodeo, or the 'sea ofIudeu'.[5]
Geologically, the Firth of Forth is afjord, formed by the ForthGlacier in thelast glacial period.[6] Thedrainage basin for the Firth of Forth covers a wide geographic area including places as far from the shore asBen Lomond,Cumbernauld,Harthill,Penicuik and the edges ofGleneagles Golf Course.[7]
Many towns line the shores, as well as thepetrochemical complexes atGrangemouth, commercialdocks atLeith, formeroil rig construction yards atMethil, theship breaking facility atInverkeithing and the formernaval dockyard atRosyth, along with numerous other industrial areas, including the Forth Bridgehead area, encompassing Rosyth, Inverkeithing and the southern edge ofDunfermline,Burntisland,Kirkcaldy,Bo'ness andLeven.
The firth is bridged in two areas. TheKincardine Bridge and theClackmannanshire Bridge cross atKincardine, while further east theForth Bridge, theForth Road Bridge and theQueensferry Crossing cross fromNorth Queensferry toSouth Queensferry.
TheRomans reportedly made a bridge of around 900 boats, probably at South Queensferry.[8] The inner firth, located between theKincardine and Forth bridges, has lost about half of its former intertidal area as a result of land reclamation, partly for agriculture, but mainly for industry and the large ash lagoons built to deposit spoil from the coal-firedLongannet Power Station nearKincardine. Historic villages line the Fife shoreline;Limekilns,Charlestown andCulross, established in the 6th century, whereSaint Kentigern was born.
Construction of theForth Bridge, a railway bridge, began in 1882 and was opened on 4 March 1890 carrying theEdinburgh–Aberdeen line.[9]
The youngest person to swim across the Firth of Forth was 13-year-old Joseph Feeney, who accomplished the feat in 1933.[10] In October 1936, theKincardine Bridge opened.[11]
On 4 September 1964, theForth Road Bridge opened.[12] From 1964 to 1982, a tunnel existed under the Firth of Forth, dug by coal miners to link the Kinneil colliery on the south side of the Forth with the Valleyfield colliery on the north side. This is shown in the 1968 educational filmForth – Powerhouse for Industry.[13] The shafts leading into the tunnel were filled and capped with concrete when the tunnel was closed, and it is believed to have flooded with water or collapsed in places.[14]
In January 1987, the firstLoony Dook event took place. During this event, individuals dive or wade into the Forth on New Years Day.[15][16]
On 27 February 2001, aShort 360 owned by the Scottish airlineLoganair operating asFlight 670A ditched into the Firth of Forth after both of the plane's engines torque went to zero. After a mayday call was initiated, the plane crashed into the water, all happening within the flight's phase of climbing to standard altitude. The only two occupants aboard, the captain and first officer, died in the accident. The crash was due to a lack of an established procedure for the flight crew to add engine air intake covers in adverse, windy, weather conditions.[17]
In July 2007, ahovercraft passenger service completed a two-week trial between Portobello,Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy, Fife. The trial of the service (marketed as "Forthfast") was hailed as a major operational success, with an average passenger load of 85 per cent.[18] It was estimated the service would decrease congestion for commuters on the Forth road and rail bridges by carrying about 870,000 passengers each year.[19] Despite its initial success, the project was cancelled in December 2011.[20]
In 2008, a controversial bid to allow oil transfer between ships in the firth was refused byForth Ports. SPT Marine Services had asked permission to transfer 7.8 million tonnes of crude oil per year between tankers, but the proposals were met with determined opposition from conservation groups.[21] In November 2008, construction of theClackmannanshire Bridge was completed and it opened to traffic.[22]
In 2011, construction of theQueensferry Crossing began and the bridge was formally opened on 4 September 2017.[23]
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The firth is important fornature conservation and is aSite of Special Scientific Interest. TheFirth of Forth Islands SPA (Special Protection Area) is home to more than 90,000 breeding seabirds every year. There is abird observatory on the Isle of May.[24] Since 2014, a series of sand and gravel banks in the approaches to the firth have been designated as aNature Conservation Marine Protected Area under the nameFirth of Forth Banks Complex.[25][26]
The Forth was historically home to a large native population ofEuropean oysters.[27] However, by the 1900s, these had been fished to extinction in the Forth.[27] A project to introduce some 30,000 oysters back in the forth has been successful at re-establishing the population in the 21st century.[27][28]
North shore
South shore
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