News Releases
Balfour Beatty Awarded Forth Bridge Contract
28 May 2002Railtrack has announced that Balfour Beatty Construction Ltd, the UK building & civil engineering business of Balfour Beatty plc, has been awarded a new refurbishment contract for the Forth Bridge. The contract, which will run over seven years, will see £9 million spent on the historic structure in the current financial year.
The contract includes:
· Painting the 112 year old bridge
· Repairs and replacement of walkways
· Steel repairs
· Access provision using scaffolding systems
In the current year, painting and repair work will be carried out in a variety of locations on all sections of the bridge. The scope and scale of future works will also be detailed during the current year’s work programme. This will determine accurate timescales and costing for the ongoing project for the following six years.
Janette Anderson, Director, Railtrack Scotland said: “We are pleased to appoint Balfour Beatty to be our partner in managing this latest step in our continuing refurbishment and maintenance of the Forth Bridge.
“As custodians of the bridge, we are conscious of the high esteem in which this Forth Wonder of the World is held. This next step for the bridge will continue to ensure its long-term integrity for future years. The bridge – which was a record breaker from the day it was designed - will continue to be maintained using the latest engineering technology.”
Brian Osborne, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s Civil Engineering Division, said: “Balfour Beatty is extremely proud to be involved in the refurbishment of this unique part of Scotland’s engineering heritage and is looking forward to the challenges ahead over the next few years to deliver a Forth Bridge which will be prepared to serve Scotland for the next century and beyond”.
The works to be carried out this year will involve:
Painting some 20,000m2 of the bridge. The painting process involves screening the area to be painted to prevent debris affecting or contaminating the surrounding environment. Old paint is removed using an abrasive blasting preparation and the steel coated with an industrial protection. The paint used to coat the bridge – the unique Forth Bridge Red colour - is a specialist glass flake epoxy paint, similar to that used in the offshore oil industry and designed to last at least 20 years.
Repairs and replacement of walkways where required including the installation of new walkways and catwalks to allow for access to the works.
Steel repairs, replacing small, localised sections of steel where required.
Access provision for the erection of scaffolding.
Contractors working on the contract will include Palmers of Bo’ness who will carry out painting, steel repairs and scaffolding erection; SGB of Grangemouth for scaffolding; and McGregor Energy Services Ltd of Alness for steel repairs. On average 150 people will be working on the bridge at any one time during the current year.
Railtrack has spent £30m on the refurbishment and maintenance of the Forth Bridge since 1997. In the last two years, works have involved the refurbishment of catwalks and walkways below track level, improving access for the full-scale refurbishment works, as well as some steelwork repairs.
Previously works involved painting, steelwork repairs and maintenance and installing floodlighting.
ENDS
Enquiries to:
Marjorie Hooper
Balfour Beatty
+44 (0)20 7216 6883
