Titanic Centenary events have brought media attention to RHINOCEROS's work on a signature Bridge refurbishment in Belfast. The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge carries traffic over the River Lagan in the heart of Belfast, only yards from the famous Harland and Wolffe shipyards which gave birth to the most famous ship in history. The Bridge was opened by the Queen in 1967 and has done 45 years of proud service. But proximity to sea air and the unsavoury habits of pigeons (they had deposited up to 7" of guano on the Bridge's girders) meant a serious refurbishment was needed.
Working through a cold and damp February and March, RHINOCEROS first blast cleaned the structure, using 100 tons of olivine grit (chosen to avoid risk of contamination of the river). 40 per cent of the structure was blasted to shiny bare metal (SA 2.5) while the remainder was sweep blasted to prepare for overcoating with epoxy.
The first coating of Sigma 690 was applied by airless spray to a depth of 150 microns. A stripe coat over joints and rivets followed, using Sigmadur micacious iron oxide (MIO) to 75 microns. This was covered with a further full spray coat of MIO to 150 microns, and finally a top coat of Sigma 550 to 50 microns, in Belfast signature colour Neptune.
Parapets and handrails were taken to bare metal SA 2.5, then coated with Sigma 690, a stripe coat of Sigma 456, a further spray coating of Sigma 456 and a top coating of Sigma 550 in Blueberry and Turquoise.
The result is a welcome addition to to the City's rapidly upgrading waterfront area.
RHINOEROS's Site Manager Bill Prendergast, a Paint Inspector with ICOR Level 3 accreditation, checks the depth of coatings
Girders under the Bridge had been popular with pigeons for all the wrong reasons: 7" of guano had to be removed before blasting could start
