Scotland/Painting the Firth of Forth bridge

Sloan · **Posted:** Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:17 am

http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2011 ... th-bridge/

robertmacdowell · **Posted:** Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:45 am

Yup, that's the magic of the new paints.
It will have the same effect on your railcar collection.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:56 am

The expression "painting the Forth Bridge" used to be used as an expression describing either perpetual, endless tasks or an exercise in futility, at least in that region of Scotland and the North of England.

To be fair, however, there have been previous claims, as far back as thirty years or so ago, that "new" paint formulas were "putting an end" to the previously "endless" task. These claims are always touted by either the paint company's marketing department or by the railway network's engineering department (showing the savings purportedly involved); I would await with skepticism that this newest claim will be an improvement on past claims (which never seemed to match reality, apparently).

Indeed, Wikipedia says:

Quote:

"Painting the Forth Bridge" is a colloquial expression for a never-ending task, coined on the erroneous belief that at one time in the history of the bridge repainting was required and commenced immediately upon completion of the previous repaint.[24] According to a 2004 New Civil Engineer report on modern maintenance, such a practice never existed, although under British Rail management, and before, the bridge had a permanent maintenance crew.

A recent repainting of the bridge commenced with a contract award in 2002, for a schedule of work which was expected to continue until March 2009; this work is now due to be completed on 9th December 2011[25] . This involves the application of 20,000 m2 of paint at a total cost in excess of £130M. This new coat of paint is expected to have a life of at least 25 years, and perhaps as long as 40, thus removing the need for constant repainting.[26] This has been designed and researched by Malcolm Astle and his Coatings Team in Derby.[citation needed] The work involves 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.

Further: http://www.forteantimes.com/strangedays ... ridge.html :

Quote:

The myth

The Forth Bridge is so big that as soon as maintenance crews have finished painting it, it's time to start again. Thus, any task which can never be completed is said to be "like painting the Forth Bridge".

The "truth"

The world's first steel, long-span, cantilever bridge, opened in 1890, remains one of mankind's greatest engineering achievements. As a modem symbol of Sisyphean labour, however, it's useless. On reflection, starting at one end and painting doggedly towards the other would be a deeply inefficient approach to such an immense and dangerous job.

Sure enough, an inquiry to the Forth Bridges Visitor Centre Trust brought the categorical statement: "The bridge was never painted in that way. Different parts of the bridge suffer different levels of exposure to the elements; the maintenance schedules reflected that."

It's all academic: the bridge is currently having its famous red paint replaced with an epoxy resin expected to last for 20-30 years. In America, incidentally, the equivalent expression is "like painting the Golden Gate Bridge."

Scotland/Painting the Firth of Forth bridge

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