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The Forth Bridge 10th Anniversary as a World Heritage Site
Celebrating 10 Years as a World Heritage Site
Recognised the world over, the Forth Bridge is a true Scottish icon symbolising engineering brilliance and Scottish pride. It celebrates its 10th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 5th July 2025.
UNESCO recognised the outstanding universal value of this World Heritage Site under the following criteria.
Criterion (i): The Forth Bridge is a masterpiece of creative genius because of its distinctive industrial aesthetic, which is the result of a forthright, unadorned display of its massive, functional structural elements.
Criterion (iv): The Forth Bridge is an extraordinary and impressive milestone in the evolution of bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long-distance land travel, innovative in its concept, its use of mild steel, and its enormous scale.
“This railway bridge, crossing the Forth estuary in Scotland, had the world’s longest spans (541 m) when it opened in 1890. It remains one of the greatest cantilever-trussed bridges and continues to carry passengers and freight. Its distinctive industrial aesthetic is the result of a forthright and unadorned display of its structural components. Innovative in style, materials and scale, the Forth Bridge marks an important milestone in bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long-distance land travel.”
Find out more for yourself and attend one of the special events commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Forth Bridge becoming a World Heritage Site between the 3rd and 5th July.
The World Heritage Site Management Plan is also being updated this year and you can get involved by completing the online questionnaire - open until 30th June.
Commemorative Events
Public Exhibition
Thursday 3rd July - Saturday 5th July
10am - 4pm
There will be a public exhibition on the history of the Forth Bridge, plans and artefacts from the building of the bridge and the people involved. Also on show will be material related to world heritage sites in Scotland, and those around the world that were listed in 2015, from Iran, France and Japan to Uruguay, Jamaica and Mexico.
There will be family education activities to join in - including the chance to inspect a Lego scale model of the Forth Bridge.
The exhibition is open to all and free to attend. No need to book.
Enjoy great views of the Forth Bridges from the Viewpoint and windows of the Contact & Education Centre (lift access available).
Location: Transport Scotland Contact & Education Centre, Ferrymuir Gait, South Queensferry, EH30 9SF.
Celebrating Industrial World Heritage Presentation
6pm-7pm
Location: Transport Scotland Contact & Education Centre, Ferrymuir Gait, South Queensferry, EH30 9SF and online
In association with Edinburgh World Heritage, there will be a presentation celebrating the Forth Bridge's 10th anniversary of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The keynote speaker is Dr Miles Oglethorpe who will give a talk entitled "Celebrating Industrial World Heritage" covering how the Forth Bridge World Heritage nomination came about, and where it fits into the wider context of the representation of Industrial Heritage on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In addition, there will be an introduction by the Forth Bridges Forum, closing remarks from Network Rail about future plans for the bridge and an opportunity for questions.
Advance booking is essential.
This free event will be viewable online for those unable to attend in person.
For those attending in person, the 10th anniversary of World Heritage Exhibition will open at 530pm to visit in advance of the presentation.
Book via Edinburgh World Heritage
Location for Public Events
The public exhibitions and presentations will be held in the Contact and Education Centre. This is adjacent to the south end of the Forth Road Bridge, postcode EH30 9SF.
There is ample free parking and the centre is close to lots of bus routes that cross the Forth Road Bridge.
