Situated on King Island, Tasmania, the Cape Wickham Lighthouse is Australia’s tallest lighthouse, standing 48 metres tall. Built in 1861, the lighthouse is constructed of local stone, has walls 3.4 metres thick at the base and 11 flights of stairs each with 20 steps. The lighthouse was originally lit with a single oil wick burner with an acetylene flasher before finally being replaced with a lightbulb in 1918. Shortly after in 1921, the light was permanently switched off after the superintendent’s house was demolished. Now, the lighthouse is an iconic tourist destination in Tasmania, so it’s important that the lighthouse is upheld to standard.
In February 2019, McElligott’s were engaged by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to complete the rehabilitation and painting of the lighthouse. The main job was to remove the existing lead-based coatings and replace them with a modern protective coating system. In addition, we were asked to repair and stabilise the cracking in the concrete balcony and internal lantern room floor support corbel, repoint the iconic stone work, repair corrosion and damage to metallic substrates, replace the ground floor external stairway stringer and re-glaze the lantern room and timber windows.
