Scaffold

Not just any old scaffold but the scaffold that is slowly coming down on the Forth Rail Bridge. If I follow the plot correctly the idea is that when work on the current coating of the bridge ends it will be another 25 years at least - and maybe as much as 40 years - before it needs painting again. I think the work is due to finish in 2012 but to my eyes it doesn't look like they have much more to do.

So before all the scaffolding comes down and the painting is finished I thought I'd take some (reasonably) close-up photographs of the painting work as it seems it will be a long time before we see painters on the bridge again.

This is one of the photos - and a kindly seagull added to the scene with a fly-past. One of the others I got shows a chain of orange-clad workers peppered around the scaffolding handling bits of scaffolding down as it was being dismantled. It looked for all the world like a giant game of snakes and ladders. I nearly blipped with that photo but it was slighly darker than this one as the sun had popped behind a rather large cloud and the red structure of the bridge darkened markedly.

Objective achieved. I've got my close-up(ish) photos of the bridge being painted. Might go back and get some more before the work finishes.

PS.........On the same day last year we were in British Columbia, Canada and got our first sighting of a massive grizzly bear in the wild. I archived the photo so the icon below should take you to it if you are interested in bears or wildlife.