Westgate Bridge Update: Completed Project

Following three years of hard work, McElligotts is proud to announce that the West Gate Bridge repainting and remediation project is now complete. 

This massive project on one of Victoria’s most iconic structures began in 2019, when our team was contracted by CPB Contractors on behalf of VicRoads/Department of Transport to abrasive blast and repaint 60,000 square metres of steel along the bridge’s 800-metre-long steel deck. 

The scope of the project saw our team removing and containing the existing lead paint, erecting profiles for strengthening carbon fibre and steel to be attached, and abrasive blasting the structure. The team then went to work repainting the entirety of the bridge’s steel underside using high-quality products from Dulux Protective Coatings.

As the bridge hadn’t seen a full repaint since it opened in 1978, McElligotts made certain that all the coatings were applied in strict accordance with the detailed specification to promote the long term preservation of one of  Melbourne’s great industrial landmarks. The West Gate Bridge provides a vital link between the city’s CBD and western suburbs and carries approximately 250,000 vehicles per day. It is the fifth longest bridge in Australia, at a staggering 2.5 kilometres in length. 

In total, we used approximately 55,000 litres of paint to complete the project. For such a monumental task, we looked to Dulux Protective Coatings as our choice of product supplier for the job.

The Process: 

Our team began with abrasive blasting the underside of the bridge’s steel deck until it was returned to raw steel. Using access platforms to reach different sections of the bridge, our team worked through strong winds at great heights to then repaint the bridge, section by section. At its peak, our team was working 55 metres above the Yarra River. 

The specified coating system required the application of 4 coats of Dulux paint with stripe coating between coats. This is an additional coat of paint over and above the traditional three coat system normally specified in accordance with the Australian standards. Stripe coating is an essential method of detailed application of each coat to the 120,000 bolts of the bridge structure. This process is critical to the long-term durability of the protective coating system.

We are incredibly proud of the work our team has achieved on this massive project. Thanks to their hard work and commitment to doing the best job possible, this Melbourne landmark is now ready to face the next 40 years. 

Project Update: 2019

The West Gate Bridge is the fifth longest bridge in Australia, at a staggering 2.5km in length. Our job was to repaint the 848m long central section of the bridge, which amounted to roughly 80,000 square metres of steel. In total, we used approximately 55,000 litres of paint to complete this immense job which cost $65 million.

With our work being conducted on platforms roughly 50m above the ground and Yarra River, the 30 McElligotts team members have had to endure heights and harsh weather conditions in undertaking this immense project.

Project Update: August 2021

The West Gate Bridge is the fifth longest bridge in Australia, at a staggering 2.5km in length. Our job was to repaint the 848m long central section of the bridge, which amounted to roughly 80,000 square metres of steel. In total, we used approximately 55,000 litres of paint to complete this immense job which cost $65 million.

With our work being conducted on platforms roughly 50m above the ground and Yarra River, the 30 McElligotts team members have had to endure heights and harsh weather conditions in undertaking this immense project.

Project Update: 2019

Back in 2019, McElligotts had the pleasure of working on the iconic Westgate Bridge connecting Melbourne’s CBD to the western suburbs. That original project saw our team removing and containing the lead paint, erecting profiles for strengthening carbon fibre and steel to be attached, and abrasive blasting the structures. Since then, our team has been hard at work abrasive blasting and repainting the entirety of the 55,000 sqm underbelly of the bridge.

The project was for CPB Contractors, on behalf of VicRoads/Department of Transport. Since the bridge hasn’t seen a full repaint since it opened in 1978, McElligotts wasn’t going to cut any corners for completing this project on one of Melbourne’s great industrial landmarks. That’s why we chose Dulux Protective Coatings as our choice of product supplier for the job.

Our team began with abrasive blasting the underside of the bridge’s steel deck until it was returned to raw steel. Using access platforms to reach different sections of the bridge, our team worked through strong winds at great heights to then repaint the bridge, piece by piece.

We chose to incorporate a four-part + stripe coat system for the repainting. This means that we used four different coats of paint while applying extra coats to any bolts, edges, wedges, or nuts that were present. The four paints that we ended up using, in order from the first coat to the fourth coat, were Zincanode 402, Durebild STE, Durebild STE MIO, and Weathermax HBR MIO. This process will ensure that the paint has a long lifespan and has a high build finish.

At McElligotts, we are incredibly proud of the work our team has achieved on this massive project. Thanks to their hard work and commitment to doing the best job possible, this Melbourne landmark is now looking ready to take on the next few decades.

McCrae Lighthouse

The McCrae Lighthouse has been standing on the eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay since 1883, helping guide ships through the treacherous waters of the South Channel until it was decommissioned in 1994. Standing at 33.5 metres, it is Victoria’s tallest lighthouse, living on today as a popular tourist attraction for anyone exploring the Mornington Peninsula.

The McElligotts team recently had the pleasure of providing important remedial construction work to this local icon. We were contracted by the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to provide our services for this iconic lighthouse, so it can continue standing for future generations to enjoy its historical and cultural significance.

The McCrae Lighthouse is made from a Chance Bros steel lattice tower, scope included the removal of hazardous coatings and coating refurbishment. Our team also erected a scaffold around the structure and encapsulated it so we could also conduct thorough steel remediation work. The project also included traffic management and liaising with the community throughout the entire process.

Despite no longer being in use, the McCrae Lighthouse was still a spectacular project to work on. One of the lighthouse’s many unique features was how it used a dioptric, catadioptric and holophotal lens system all in conjunction with one another. When in use, this light was visible from up to 25km away and provided an essential navigational line through the South Shipping Channel out of Port Phillip Bay. The light would shine white across to Melbourne and red wherever there were dangerous sandbars in the bay.

McElligotts would like to thank the Mornington Peninsular Shire Council for giving us the opportunity to work on this project, as well as all the team members who demonstrated their experience and expertise on this project by completing it to our usual high standard.

The conservation works to McCrae Lighthouse is supported by the Victorian Government through the Living Heritage Program.

Newport Bridge Project

McElligotts have recently commenced work on refurbishing the Newport Railway Bridge. This project is just one part of the larger West Gate Tunnel project which aims to provide an alternative route between Melbourne’s western and central districts, taking traffic away from the overly congested West Gate Bridge.

The refurbishment job sees the McElligotts team accessing, containing, and removing the existing coat of paint from the 6000 square metre steel structure. The team then applied a primer, intermediate, and final coating to refurbish the steel.

As part of this project the Newport Bridge was also widened to accommodate more lanes of traffic on the West Gate Freeway. This was an essential step that will eventually lead to that extra traffic being funneled into the West Gate Tunnel, which is currently under construction by contractors CPB Contractors and John Holland. The West Gate Tunnel project, including the refurbishment of the Newport Bridge, is a joint partnership between the Victorian Government and Transurban.

Once completed, the West Gate Tunnel will divert some of the 205,000 daily vehicles that use the West Gate Bridge. It will also divert 9000 trucks each and every day from local suburban streets.

McElligotts is extremely proud of the work that has already been done in refurbishing the Newport Bridge and is hard at work seeing this project through to completion. We would like to thank the Victorian Government and Transurban for giving us the opportunity to work on this significant piece of infrastructure.

Click on the thumbnail images below to expand. 

Tullaroop Spillway Bridge

The Tullaroop Spillway Bridge is situated at the north of the 60-year-old Tullaroop Reservoir, and regulates the water flow from Tullaroop Creek. McElligotts recently had the pleasure of working on this important road bridge, in association with Goulburn-Murray Water between February and April 2021.

We were tasked with erecting containment underneath the bridge to capture the spent lead contaminated garnet, while also blasting and repainting the steel beams supporting the bridge. The work began with building a scaffold around the bridge that was undertaken with the assistance of a subcontractor. Afterwards, we set up the containment inclusive of a steel floor, netting and vinyl on top.

The team then took samples of the air and soil to ensure our work was being conducted in a manner that was safe to both ourselves and the environment. We covered the water pipe and any sharp edges to protect our workers and the infrastructure from the abrasive blasting. The process of the blasting was conducted at a 2.5 class, which wiped the beams back to bare steel.

Our team then cleaned the containment of any excess lead waste and began the process of repainting the beams. After applying three coats of new paint, the scaffolding was disassembled, the equipment was demobilised, and the Tullaroop Spillway Bridge project was completed.

At McElligotts, we are incredibly proud of the hard work our team committed to this project. Throughout the weeks that we were working on the bridge, we experienced some challenging weather conditions, including heavy rain, however it didn’t impede our progress too much. A truly amazing project to have had the pleasure to work on.

Flinders Street Viaducts: Melbourne CBD

One of the projects we are currently working on is the Flinders Street Viaduct.

The old viaduct was initially constructed in 1889 then duplicated in 1915. The four lines help to carry the City Circle, Burnley, Caulfield, and Northern loop  between Flinders Street Station and Southern Cross Station.

In the 1970s during the construction phase of the City Loop the four tracks of the old viaduct were upgraded for bidirectional use with the northern bridge carrying the City Circle and Burnley Loop tracks and the southern bridge carrying the Caulfield and Northern Loop tracks. The overall length of the viaduct measures approximately 760m with individual spans ranging from 10m to 24m.The northern bridge consists of 45 spans from the brick abutment beside the car park of the Grand Hotel to the Flinders Street Station vaults at Banana Alley. The southern bridge comprises 44 spans as it does not pass over Span 1 or Pier 2 and sits on original ground adjacent to the Grand Hotel at the corner of Flinders St & Spencer St.

This work involves refurbishing the 270m long section both underside and topside within the rail corridor between spans 1-16. Over 12000 square meters of steel.

McElligotts have been able to achieve treatment of 216lm of topside girders in just 50hrs! including full containment, hazardous coating removal, and a 3 coat protective system applied. Just 8 occupations will see the topside completely refurbished.

Works on the underside is just as complex dealing with numerous stakeholders, detailed pedestrian and traffic management including works over tram and busways.

McElligotts are achieving fantastic results supported by our accredited management systems, enabling these high risk works to be undertaken on one of Melbourne’s busiest thoroughfares without impact to the nearby public or environment.

Achieving a remarkable finish we are able to give new life to this iconic structure and help make it a feature of the area for many years to come.

We’re proud to have been contracted by Metro Trains Melbourne to remediate this significant Melbourne structure.

Project Update: August 2021

The McElligotts team have begun demobilising from our work on the Flinders St Viaduct in Melbourne. This is a project we began in 2020 by treating the topside and underside girders including removing the hazardous coating and applying a three coat protective system.

Recently, we have replaced some of the heritage fascia that formed the outer surface of the viaduct. We would like to thank all of the subcontractors that supported us on this project as we know we couldn’t have done the work without your help.

We would also like to thank Metro Trains Melbourne for giving us the opportunity to work on this project. We look forward to partnering with you again in the future.

Port Lonsdale Lighthouse

McElligotts were recently engaged by the Victorian Ports Corporation Melbourne (VPCM) to undertake remedial works on the heritage listed Point Lonsdale Lighthouse.

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse is located in Point Lonsdale, Victoria and is operated by the Victorian Channels Authority. The Lighthouse stands on the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, on the western side of the entrance to Port Phillip from Bass Strait, overlooking one of the ten most treacherous navigable passages in the world, the “rip”.

First lit in 1902, the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse plays an important part in Victoria’s history, having helped keep sailors safe for many years.

The design is quintessential of late nineteenth century Victorian lighthouses, consisting of a cylindrical concrete tower atop an octagonal prism signal station and observation room. The structure is made from reinforced concrete and surmounted by a lantern, which was later replaced with an acetylene light and later again, an electrical light.

Now, the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse holds weekly tours where visitors can explore the inside of the building and learn the right history of the lighthouse, so it’s important that it remains safe for use and looks as good as new. As part of the remedial works, McElligotts will be carrying out steel refurbishment and re-coating the outer side of the lighthouse. We are honoured to have been chosen to work on this important historical building and cannot wait to get started.

Wantirna Sewer Shaft

McElligotts was engaged by Melbourne Water to rehabilitate the Wantirna Sewer Shaft in March, 2017.

The scope of work included the rehabilitation of a 65m deep and 12m diameter sewer shaft. At McElligotts, the safety of our staff and clients is our top priority, so It was especially important for us to maintain a safe system of working as working within a live sewer can be dangerous for a number of reasons.

Our work on this project included:

• Access, egress and rescue capability
• Work platforms, safety lines and catch facilities
• Cleaning of all internal surfaces in the shaft
• Removal of all softened and acidified concrete from shaft walls and platforms
• Rehabilitation and remediation of all concrete surfaces including rebuiliding
• Application of a protective coating

McElligotts finished this project within a short six-month time frame, working around the clock to ensure the Wantira Sewer Shaft was restored as quickly as possible.

Black Hill Water Reservoir

McElligotts was engaged to remediate concrete seepage at the Black Hill Water Reservoir. Owned by the Hunter Water Corporation, the Black Hill Water Reservoir is an 86 million litre water reservoir, constructed in 1939. The structure was still in good overall condition, but had begun to show signs of seepage, with water escaping through deteriorated joint seals and cracks in the concrete slabs. Remedial concrete works were necessary to keep the water safe and the structure stable and protected. We completed the project between July and September 2017.

The project demanded a 20-year minimum design life and certification with the Australian standard AS/NZS 4020 for contact with potable water.Firstly, we applied a primer to the concrete surface and placed a flexible bonding tape to the 5,000 lineal metres of joints. To repair the cracks in the floor and toe slabs, Intercrete 4841 (cementitious-polymer protective coating) and Intercrete 4872 (waterproof reinforcing tape) were selected as the most suitable products within the project’s requirements.

We had a timeframe of 42 days for this project which had a floor area of 11,000m² and short shutdown windows when we were able to apply the coating. When selecting the coating and application method, we needed to accommodate for the structural movement and stresses observed during the regular usage and maintenance of the site (up to 5mm vertical movement in the floor was observed in prior surveys).

Ultimately, we were able to meet the client’s requirements to schedule, and we’re pleased with the finished outcome. The Black Hill Water Reservoir will be well-protected from any structural stress and corrosion for decades to come.

West Gate Bridge Strengthening Project

Built in 1978, West Gate Bridge is an iconic structure that’s played a huge part in moving Melbourne for decades. After thirty years of operation, West Gate Bridge had daily traffic of 160,000 vehicles, compared to the 40,000 it was carrying per day after opening. McElligotts was sub-contracted by John Holland Construction for abrasive blasting and other remedial works.

Roles we performed included removing and containing red lead paint, abrasive blasting of the internal and external structures and creating profiles for strengthening steel and carbon fibre to be attached. At the time, this was one of the largest projects in the world incorporating carbon fibre. We enjoyed working on this project and overcoming the challenges it faced, including traffic and fast turnover requirements. At the height of this project, McElligotts had 100 workers per day on-site.

West Gate Bridge 2019-2021:

In February 2019, we were proud to have again been contracted by VicRoads to work on the West Gate Bridge, this time as part of their painting refurbishment project. We are still currently working on this project and are on track to have it completed in conjunction with the set deadline. The scope of work is somewhat similar to the original work we did on the bridge, only this time we are just focusing on restoring the painting and abrasive blasting rather than strengthening.

Our main task is to abrasive blast and paint 55,000 sqm of steel on the underside of the bridge, which included blasting the 9 platforms that are suspended 60m off the ground. In order to do this, the platforms are contained to a class 1 containment system and then abrasive blasted back to bare steel for inspection of the steel condition. In alignment with our sustainable values here at McElligotts, all waste material is vacuumed up and bagged at the bottom of the bridge. After this, the surface is then re-blasted and a 4-coat system is applied to the steel structure and signed off before the platforms can be traversed along the bridge.

Photo Gallery:

Here we see the underside view of the work platforms, (8) in total , that we work from to carry out the containment , abrasive blasting and recoating of the steel section underside . As work is completed the platforms are inched along from East to West across the massive steel spans of this bridge. A truly amazing project to be involved in .

Eastern Treatment Plant Refurbishment

McElligotts performed remedial construction works during the Eastern Treatment Plant refurbishment between August 2011 and November 2013. During construction, major leaks had developed in concrete structures, requiring a strip of the existing coating and a relining. Our team lined over 5000m² of concrete with Polibrid, using a reinforced coating system we’d developed using geo fabric. Geo fabric was pinned to the concrete to mitigate the potential for future coating failures.

From there, we applied intercrete bands to expansion joints, providing extra strength in the coating system to prevent water pressure leaking through the joints. Ultra-high pressure surface preparation was performed on the external concrete surfaces to ensure the correct surface profile was achieved. As the water treatment plant has some high foot traffic areas, we made sure that the coating selected was non-slip. This was a large project requiring many co-ordinated steps with 200 other contractors onsite working alongside us.