Painting Of The Forth Bridge Complete

The infamously infinite task of painting the Forth Bridge has been completed, according to Network rail on Friday.

The continuous painting of the 2,467 metre, Scottish landmark has become a colloquial phrase, referring to work that can never be completed.

However, following a 10-year programme of refurbishment and repainting, painting of the famous bridge has finished. The new coat of paint is expected to have a life of at least 25 years, and perhaps as long as 40 after specialist methods and paint was designed and by Malcolm Astle and his Coatings Team in Derby, who were awarded the maintenance contract in 2002.

The work involved blasting all previous layers of paint off the bridge for the first time in its history, allowing for repairs to be made to the steel.

Over the life of the project more than 1,500 people have worked on the structure, with up to 400 people a day on the bridge at the height of the refurbishment works.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "Completing the refurbishment will safeguard the future of one of the country’s most famous landmarks, and in the years ahead, a small team of specialists and engineers will continue to monitor and maintain the bridge, which is regularly exposed to extreme conditions above the Firth of Forth."

The bridge was formally opened by the Prince of Wales on 4 March 1890. The company had to paint an area of 230,000 sq metres, using 240,000 litres of paint and install 1,040 lights with 35,000 – 40,000 metres of cabling.

Some 200 trains a day use the bridge transporting 3 million passengers per year.

(DW)