The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-23
WORK THAT NEVER ENDS.
Painters Brush Must Always be Kept

Going on Forth Bridge.
 The Forth bridge is now receiving its fourth coat of paint since it's erection nearly twelve years ago." says Tit Bits, Every three years the paint surface of the great bridge is renewed. Beginning at the south end the painters take three years to cover the entire length of the bridge-a mile and a fifth and by this time they have to start again at the south side, three years be- ing the life of the paint.
 "Twentyfive acres of metal surface have to be coated by the brush, and as the bridge is on the cantilever principle, rising to height of four hundred and fifty feet, the workmen have to crawl about like flies on a easement The work is of the utmost importance, as unless we'll painted the steel would soon corrode, subjected as it is in that ex- posed position to the full action of wind and rain. A special paint composed mainly of oxide and red lead is used, and there is no demand for decorative taste, simply the plain swish swosh. But a clear head and strong nerve are essential. The main piers of the canta- levers are of steel tubes twelve feet in diameter, running up to a height of three hundred and seventy feet, or five feet higher than St. Paul's cathedral, so that to paint day after day at these tubes necessitates a mind not given to | eXcitable thoughts. Only in very stor- my weather is the work stopped; on g. gauge 8 wind pressure of sixty five pounds per square foot has been regis l tered, a greater force than that which blew down the Tay bridge.
 About two hundred and fifty tons of paint and thirty-five thousand gallons of oil are used up besides other materi- als ere the men have crossed from the south shore to the north shore. The l squad of men usually numbers about l thirty-fi five, and when they first take to the trade they are kept to the lower portions of the bridge As they. gain | confidence they are intructed with the outlying parts. There is an elaborate series of ladders and lifts which have | been devised by the resident engineer. l The, lifts are worked by steam engines
 and winches placed little below the permanent way. At each hoist there is
 a shelter-house, where the paint is mixed To paint underneath the bridge | platforms are slung on wire ropes on 1 the principle of an overhead railway and 1 the painters on the slender platform
 look down right on top of the steamers
 bound on the Firth, including the bat tleshps, for the moorings of the Fourth
 guardships are above the bridge off
 Queensferry. A squad of riggers is al-
 ways ahead of the painters erecting platforms and securing tackle.
 "So long as the Forth bridge stands and it has been built to endure for gen. erations-so long will the painter 2
 brush keep moving. The cost at the years end is no tri1e, but the bridge
 when paid for by the Great Northern, Northeastern, Midland and North Brit ish railway companies tOtaled up $16.- 1 500000. and after nearly twelve years in no part has there been renewal required la very good record for fifty thousand tons of steel, thirty-tWo miles of bent
 plates and eight million riVets. As the painters are continually on the move s1 is the bridge itself. Allowance was made for expansion and contraction, and the record so far shows that the
 bridge has been tWenty-nne and one- half inches longer at one period of the year than at the other.