Forth Bridge restoration to be completed in 2012
Forth Rail Bridge
The landmark Forth Rail Bridge will be free of scaffolding and be fully painted by 2012, rail chiefs have announced, killing off one of Britain's best loved idioms.
The specialist paint coating the 118-year-old bridge is expected to last up to 30 years.
Though the restoration work started in 2002, the scale of the task meant bridge bosses have not announced the project's deadline until now.
Network Rail, the bridge operator, has signed a deal worth £74 million with existing contractors, Balfour Beatty, to complete the remainder of the work.
Iain Coucher, Network Rail's chief executive, said: "The Forth Bridge is a working monument to the genius of British railway engineering.
"The work currently being undertaken will restore the bridge to its original condition and preserve the steelwork for decades.
"The team currently working on the bridge has now completed some of the most difficult work and they have already overcome the most significant challenges that this project posed.
"For that reason, we have taken the decision to accelerate the work, increasing the annual investment from £13m to £18.5m with the aim of generating long-term financial savings."
He added: "The restoration has been ongoing since 2002 but, due to years of under-investment during the 70s and 80s, the scale of the job was initially unclear.
"Only now are we in the position to name a completion date of 2012."
Marshall Scott, managing director of Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, said that the company had already worked 2.6 million hours on the bridge over the last six years.
He said: "We now look forward to taking this project to completion. With the removal of the scaffolding, the restoration of this remarkable bridge will return it to near pristine condition."
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