Paint it any colour – so long as it's red

Published on Tuesday 10 March 2009 20:48

BEAUTY is in the eye of the beholder. William Morris, the great 19th-century Arts and Crafts designer famous for his wallpapers, called the Forth Bridge "the supremest specimen of all ugliness".

For most of us, though, it is a thing of beauty – and a great engineering achievement. It was the biggest civil engineering structure built in the 19th century – you can lay eight Eiffel Towers along its length. It cost 2.5 million to construct. That is 200 million in today's money – less than half the cost of Holyrood.

Famously the Forth Bridge had one little problem – rust. So it had to be painted continuously to preserve the structure, with the painters starting again immediately once they had done one coat. Now science has come to the aid of the bridge, and it is being painted in a special chemical coat that will need replacement only every quarter of a century. It has been revealed this work will be finished in two years' time – 12 months ahead of schedule, and preserving the trademark red colour, which offended William Morris.

Originally this was caused by the red lead and iron oxide in Victorian paint. of the bridge. But if Mr Morris were around today it would be perfectly possible to use the new paints to have the Forth Rail Bridge any colour imaginable. Including a flowery wallpaper design.