Forth Bridge Restoration To Be Completed In 2012

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."