"The process of painting the Forth Rail Bridge is finally set to end in four years' time, it has been announced. The need for continuous maintenance of the structure has passed into folklore and led to the coining of a phrase for a never-ending job. However, Network Rail has announced a £74m contract which will see painters down their brushes in 2012. The new paint has an estimated life span of 25 years, although is it hoped it will last closer to 40 years. The expression "like painting the Forth Bridge" features in the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms."
It will be good to have the old Bridge back without it being covered up in the plastic canopies which have been used to catch the old paint as it was sand blasted off the Bridge structure. But it seems to Carnegie that the current paint job has been ongoing for several years at least.
Here's hoping ion future that Network Rail don't repeat the mistake of Railtrack which cut back on the maintenance schedule of the Bridge so much in order to save money that it caused the structure to rust and lead to the current paint job.
