Forth Bridge paint job finally coming to an end after 10 years

The Forth Rail Bridge, linking Edinburgh to the Fife region in eastern Scotland, will finally see scaffolding come down and painters leave the site after a job that has taken more than 10 years and cost £135m ($200m) to complete.

The long task will finally finish in December and contractors are not expected to return to the bridge for a repaint for another 25 years. Amazingly the enduring task will finish ahead of schedule. It takes so long to paint that a metaphor was spawned for any task that takes seemingly forever: "Like painting the Forth Bridge". Since the iconic bridge was built in 1890 a paint job would often take so long that by the time labourers finished it was time to start all over again. This time round more than 200 painters used a triple layer of new glass flake epoxy paint, which is similar to that used in the offshore oil industry, reports the BBC. The steel work is now protected from the elements with a chemical bond that is virtually impenetrable. Colin Hardy, Balfour Beattie Construction spokesman said, "the old cliche is now over. For the first time in the bridge's history there will be no painters required on the bridge. Job done." The bridge took seven years to build and spans the Firth of Forth for 1.5 miles (2.4km)