A metaphorical constant will never be the same again when painting the Forth Bridge comes to an end in December.
Never-ending tasks have often been likened to painting the bridge, and the task made it into the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms.
Network Rail and main contractor Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering will preside over the end of the modern myth when painting of the 121-year-old Forth Bridge finally draws to a close.
After 10 years and an investment of over £130 million, the cantilever bridge, which carries three million passengers a year and 200 trains a day, will finally be free of scaffolding, with a full paint job unlikely to be required again for over 20 years.
The contract will be completed ahead of schedule on December 9, with a celebration to mark the end of the refurbishment being held next March.
David Simpson, route managing director for Network Rail Scotland, said: “Since 1890 it has been a working monument to the genius of British railway engineering. Over the last decade, the bridge has been restored to its original condition and its new paint will preserve the steelwork for decades to come.”
The paint system on the bridge has previously been used on North Sea oil rigs and Network Rail expected it to last more than two decades.
“But we will be back from time to time to maintain the most exposed sections of the structure,” said Mr Simpson.
Marshall Scott, managing director of Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering, said the firm had been delighted to have played a significant role in the restoration over the last 10 years.
“By working together in a close relationship, Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering, Network Rail, the principal subcontractors and the workforce involved in undertaking this complex programme of restoration have successfully delivered a project requiring safe systems of work to overcome difficult working conditions.
“The now fully restored Forth Bridge will continue to operate for many decades and it will provide the world-renowned image that Scotland can be rightfully proud of.”