Pyramids and Taj Mahal To Have A New Arch Rival –The Forth Bridge

The Forth Bridge is set to be put forward as Scotland's latest world heritage site – some 120 years after the industrial masterpiece was completed.

Edinburgh and Fife have agreed to join forces to promote an official bid to secure world-class status for the railway bridge, which needs the backing of the UK government to have a chance of succeeding.

However it has already won the backing of both the Scottish Government and Network Rail, which is in the midst of a £150 million repair and maintenance programme.

A formal bid is expected to be submitted next month to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which announced strict new criteria for sites which will be considered for official bids to Unesco's world heritage body.

The Forth Bridge is to be put forward as a landmark of civil engineering as it was the world's first major steel bridge when it was built. Spanning 1.5 miles, it is Scotland's biggest listed building, and carries up to 200 trains each day, linking Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness.

The Forth Bridge would join the island of St Kilda, the Antonine Wall, New Lanark, the heart of Neolithic Orkney and the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh if the bid was successful.

Other sites around the world include Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster in London, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and St Petersburg.

The Forth Bridge was put forward for consideration previously by the then Scottish Executive in 1999. The new bid is being revived by council leaders in Fife and Edinburgh.

Peter Grant, leader of Fife Council, said: "The Forth Bridge represents the pinnacle of 19th century Scottish engineering. It was one of the wonders of the modern world when it was built and remains one of the most instantly recognisable structures in the world.

"We are extremely lucky in Fife to have such an iconic gateway to welcome thousands of visitors and homecoming residents into the Kingdom. I'm sure the people of Fife would fully support its inclusion as a World Heritage Site."

Jim Lowrie, Edinburgh's planning leader, said: "The Forth Bridge is an internationally recognised symbol of the achievements of late 19th- century engineering – and remains the best known rail bridge in the world.