While the finishing touches are being applied to the bridge’s paintwork, there is still a lot going on as our amazing workers move the bridge ever closer to reopening!
To keep traffic flowing across the bridge during periods of high demand, the scaffolding team have been working at night to remove the scaffolding and netting from the bridge. As the work on each section of the chains is completed, the scaffolding that is no longer needed is being packed up at the Clifton compound and taken away from the works site. As you can see in the photo below, most of the equipment has already been loaded up and taken away.
Where the painting pods have been removed from the bridge’s chains, the painting team are focussing on touching up the paintwork at ‘contact points’ – places where the scaffolding rested against the historic ironwork, previously making access difficult. To prevent rust, every square centimetre of the ironwork must be given three coats of paint that meets the quality standards of the bridge’s contracting engineers, so this is a very precise and important part of the job!
Once the freshly painted chains have been inspected, the electricians move in. Their work to install the new illuminations continues and this month, they have been focussing on the low level lighting at the centre of the bridge; the tower uplighters which are being installed on the abutments; and the pedestrian safety lighting that runs the length of the footway. Huge amounts of cabling is required – but it’s all being installed using wire cradles to ensure it doesn’t detract from your views of the bridge. Take a look at the photos below and you’ll see what a great job they are doing – the new LED lighting system is barely noticable during the day, and the cabling is neatly tucked between the chains.
There is now a cleaning crew in place, who are clearing rubbish, cleaning any paint marks from the pedestrian walkways, and jetwashing the longitudinal girders and splashboards (the wooden boards that run along the entire length of the bridge’s walkway) to get everything clean and tidy and ready to reopen. Of course, there is still more electrical installation and testing work to do, so we all have to wait a little bit longer.
It’s important that the rest of the bridge looks good too, so the team are finishing up by restoring and painting the balustrades around the toll plaza, and the iron railings at Clifton and Leigh Woods. It’s attention to details like these that we hope are going to make your experience of the freshly reopened bridge even better!
