The Forth Bridge, Edinburgh

The splendid Forth Bridge is one of Scotland’s most iconic and most widely recognised landmarks. It is often incorrectly called the “Forth Rail Bridge” in an effort to distinguish it from the Forth Road Bridge, which sits just to the west. However, as it was completed in 1890, 74 years before there was a Forth Road Bridge, it was always just called “The Forth Bridge”.

Connecting Scotland’s capital city with the Kingdom of Fife, this engineering masterpiece is 2.5 km long and 104 metres tall. During the most active phase, around 4,600 workers were employed in the construction and sadly, without modern machinery, tools and safety practices, as many as 98 men died, and hundreds more were seriously injured.

The most common story surrounding the bridge is that it requires continual painting. According to a 2004 report this has never actually happened, which is a little disappointing, but fact may not be so far removed from fiction. A contract to repaint the bridge was awarded in 2002 – a job which will take until at least 2009 to complete. The lifespan of the new coat of paint is estimated at 20 years, so if the job ran over, and the paint under-performed, then the phrase “Painting the Forth Bridge” might not be so misplaced after all.