The bridge that carries rail traffic across the Firth of Forth in Scotland is famous in British folklore. Notoriously, the 2.5-km cantilever structure is maintained by a small crew who paint the steelwork, starting at one end and finishing at the other; but the bridge is so large that, as soon as the job is done, it is time to start afresh at the beginning. Like the story of Sisyphus, condemned to roll a great boulder uphill every day, only for it to roll back down at night, the Forth Bridge story is a myth. Its owner, Network Rail, does indeed keep a permanent maintenance team on site but painting is not their only job, nor is it an everyday chore. But that story does bring to mind the efforts of the regulators to draft a once-and-for-all rulebook for the safe transport of dangerous goods by all modes.
展开▼
