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.