At last we've had a prolonged period of warmth, took this tonight looking over at The Forth Rail bridge and thought I'd share it with you guys!
Sunshine
- Thread starter Gino Rondelli
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The world needs a new simile for "a never ending job". It used to be that the paint job on the Forth Bridge took so long, they had to start over at the beginning by the time they got to the end. This was because of the marginal anti-corrosion quality of the paints availble a few years ago.
I read a story not too long ago in the Daily Telegraph that the last paint job was done with a modern two-part epoxy paint which is supposed to be good for 20 years or more.
I read a story not too long ago in the Daily Telegraph that the last paint job was done with a modern two-part epoxy paint which is supposed to be good for 20 years or more.
Nice shot. I'll take one of each thank you.
Restoration is well underway with a epoxy based finish
In 1996 Railtrack (now Network Rail), at the request of the Health & Safety executive, began a structural and maintenance assessment of the structure. The result of this was the £40m refurbishment package which began in 1998; this comprised steelwork repairs, surface coating, access improvements and an upgrade of the floodlighting. The contractor undertaking this work left site in 2002 due to financial problems. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering gained the maintenance contract in 2002 (£10M per annum until March 2009). The coating system employed for the steelwork requires blast cleaning to bare metal; an application of zinc based primer to prevent corrosion (35 microns); a glass flake epoxy intermediate coat providing a barrier (400 microns); and, a polyurethane gloss top coat to give an attractive “Forth Bridge Red” finish (35 microns) on all of its estimated 400,000m². This system which has been tried and tested in an offshore environment is designed to give a 20year life which means the bridge may be free of its legendary painters after 2009 for a short while
http://www.forthbridges.org.uk/railbridgemain.htm
In 1996 Railtrack (now Network Rail), at the request of the Health & Safety executive, began a structural and maintenance assessment of the structure. The result of this was the £40m refurbishment package which began in 1998; this comprised steelwork repairs, surface coating, access improvements and an upgrade of the floodlighting. The contractor undertaking this work left site in 2002 due to financial problems. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering gained the maintenance contract in 2002 (£10M per annum until March 2009). The coating system employed for the steelwork requires blast cleaning to bare metal; an application of zinc based primer to prevent corrosion (35 microns); a glass flake epoxy intermediate coat providing a barrier (400 microns); and, a polyurethane gloss top coat to give an attractive “Forth Bridge Red” finish (35 microns) on all of its estimated 400,000m². This system which has been tried and tested in an offshore environment is designed to give a 20year life which means the bridge may be free of its legendary painters after 2009 for a short while
http://www.forthbridges.org.uk/railbridgemain.htm
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