USING 10,000 bricks and standing almost nine feet tall, a LEGO model of the Forth Road Bridge went on display at the National Museum of Scotland on Monday.

The model has been commissioned by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) as part of celebrations to mark the 50th birthday of the famous bridge.

The intricately-detailed and engineered structure reveals a cross-section of the bridge’s deck and supporting steel truss, as well as one of its soaring towers. The model, which also features LEGO mini-figure maintenance workers and bridge staff, will be on view until 15th September and was created by leading Edinburgh-based LEGO artist, Warren Elsmore.

Warren (pictured left) has been building LEGO models for the past six years, with previous high-profile works including St Pancras Station, the Olympics stadium, Westminster Abbey and the Forth’s other famous crossing, the Forth Bridge.

However, his replica of the Forth Road Bridge has proved to be one of his biggest challenges to date. Warren explained, “This model of the Forth Road Bridge has definitely been one of the most difficult that I have worked on, due to the complexity of the original structure.

“As well as the main tower and deck, the model also reproduces the bridge’s under-deck steel truss, which is an extremely intricate piece of engineering, which required hours of computer modelling to reproduce.

“However, after almost 150 hours of work, I am extremely pleased with how the final piece has turned out, and hopefully it will fire the imaginations of those visiting the museum.” Warren used approximately 10,000 pieces of LEGO to create the model, including more than 3000 elements in the deck and more than 2500 bricks in each of the tower legs. It is built on an approximate scale of 1:65.

To give the model added stability, Forth Road Bridge maintenance workers constructed a supporting steel framework for Warren to build the model around. This required great accuracy so that the bricks would fit neatly around it and used approximately 120 kilogrammes of steel.

Barry Colford, chief engineer and bridgemaster at the Forth Road Bridge, said, “As an engineer, I was fascinated by the proposal to build a replica of the Forth Road Bridge from LEGO. The final model is superb, created with great attention to detail and a very accurate rendering of the Bridge’s structure and dimensions.

“We commissioned this model in order to reach out to the many thousands of visitors that will pass through the National Museum of Scotland at this time of year, in particular the young, and the young at heart.

“Hopefully it can help inspire Scotland’s next generation of engineers, whether they choose to work with steel and concrete or plastic bricks!” The model has been unveiled as part of the Forth Bridges Festival, which takes place from 4th-13th September, to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Forth Road Bridge, as well as three centuries of bridge- building on the Forth.