Pipe Bridges Refurbishment
As part of Stonbury’s extensive refurbishment activities to water industry structures, we were recently contracted to look at various steel pipe bridge refurbishment works in and around the London area.
Inspections took place to determine the best way to carry out works and to decide on the systems of scaffolding, as one of the pipe bridges ran over the River Lea.
Designs & calculations for the scaffolding on this project over the River Lea were prepared as the job was particularly complex. The scaffolding would have to be assembled on the banks and then lifted into place in 2 parts with a crane. These designs and calculations were approved and once full R.A.M.S were signed off the job was set to begin. Civil works began to level off the existing ground to give the scaffolding a firm level base to work from and also to remove the existing stone fence and the block wall to allow for the space needed to assemble the scaffolding.
Once the scaffolding was in place the structure was fully encapsulated by a heat-sealed shrink wrapped sheeting to catch any debris that would have otherwise entered the water course and also to minimise noise pollution produced from blasting works to the steel pipes.
A dustless blasting technique was employed to remove existing coating materials as preparation for subsequent coating works. Pipes and supporting steelwork received 3 coats of solvent free high build epoxy followed by 1 coat acrylic polyurethane finish.
Scaffolding was then dismantled and removed from site whilst underpinning works began to strengthen the support pillars, gabion baskets were placed into position adjacent to the upper pillars to stop any further erosion of the river bank. Installation of a new palisade fence was erected, replacing the existing blockwork and stone fence panels. The ground was then reinstated along with concreting works to reinstate the car park area.
