Built at the end of the 1800’s and officially opened on the 4th March 1890, the Forth Rail Bridge has become one of Scotland’s most recognisable landmarks. There is an on-going maintenance programme to keep the bridge in good working order. Access to the maintenance walkway, suspended under the railway lines, was from a scaffold tower in the contractor’s compound at the south side of the bridge. The access scaffold required regular inspections every 3 months and additional inspections following severe weather conditions and high winds. It was decided that a permanent access staircase was required to reduce the maintenance costs associated with the scaffold tower.
Millar Callaghan were given the requirements and specifications for the new access and asked to design a suitable staircase that would fit within the existing bridge structure.
On completion of the designs and supported by structural calculations, the drawings were approved and our workshop went into production of the new permanent structure. A full trial assembly of the structure was carried out in our Irvine yard before it was stripped, shot-blasted and painted to Network rail specifications and finished with the very distinctive red top coat.
The completed structure was delivered and erected on site with the aid of chain blocks and our hi-ab.
When the staircases and landings were fully erected, a security fence of anti-climb prison-grade mesh was erected around the base to secure the access to the bridge. On completion, Millar Callaghan presented the client with a quality package containing full traceability of materials, consumables, welder qualifications, NDT inspection reports and paint film thicknesses.
