Victoria Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan

Painting The West Gate Bridge

Victor P Taffa

For the first time in 40 years, the West Gate Bridge is set to get a fresh coat of paint.

However footy fans hoping to see the bridge painted in their team’s colours will be disappointed, durability requirements will restrict the colour choice.

Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan today called for expressions of interest to repaint the entire steel structure, a job expected to take 2½ years and more than 55,000 litres of paint.

“West Gate Bridge is a Melbourne icon and the current colour scheme has held up well against the elements but after 40 years, it’s time for a spruce up.” Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan said.

“Painting the West Gate Bridge will be no small task. It will take a team of more than 50 people 2½ years and 55,000 litres of paint to get this important maintenance work done.”

Starting later this year, a dedicated team of specialists will be perched high above Melbourne’s skyline to give the bridge a facelift, with the painting project expected to create an additional 50 jobs.

VicRoads regularly inspects and paints sections of the bridge, but this will be the first time in 4 decades the entire steel structure will be stripped and refreshed.

The paint job is an important part of maintaining the bridge and protecting the steel structure from the effects of sea water, wind and Melbourne’s weather.

A similar shade of grey, anti-corrosive paint will continue to be used for most of the bridge, with the bridge props to be painted white to give some contrast.

As part of the maintenance project, the existing surface will be stripped back to bare metal, and several coats of paint will be applied.

Successful specialist contractor will use a combination of brushes and spray guns to paint over 80,000 sqm.

VicRoads expects there will be little impact on drivers during the work, with most of the painting happening below the bridge deck, keeping traffic disruptions to a minimum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Member For Richmond Richard Wynne

Rumours have it that Member for Richmond Richard Wynne has been knocking on the door of the Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan asking for the West Gate Bridge to be painted Black and Yellow in the colours of his beloved Richmond Tigers AFL Team.

“Black and Yellow will stand out in the Melbourne afternoon sunset making it safer for people to travel across the bridge.”

“Richmond Tigers logos could also be placed at the top of each steel box girder that holds up the cables. Richmond Tigers will then be looking over motorists ensuring their safety as they travel across the bridge.”

Richmond Tigers AFL meets Adelaide Crows in the 2017 Toyota AFL Grand Final on Saturday 30 September at the MCG in front of a crowd of nearly 100,000 people.

The competition began in 1897 as the Victorian Football League (VFL). In 1990 the competition became the Australian Football League (AFL). Grand Finals were introduced in 1931.

 

Adelaide Crows

Year Entered Competition: 1991

Year Left Competition:

Home Ground: Football Park/ Adelaide Oval

1^st Grade Premierships: (2) 1997, 1998,

Runners-Up: (0)

Richmond Tigers

Year Entered Competition: 1908

Year Left Competition:

Home Ground: Punt Road/ MCG

1^st Grade Premierships: (10) 1920, 1921, 1932, 1934, 1943, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1980,

Runners-Up: (12) 1919, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1972, 1982,

Richmond will meet Adelaide in the 2017 Toyota AFL Grand Final that sees both teams having players who have never played in a Grand Final.

According to the AFL it is 12,782 Days since Richmond last played in a VFL/AFL Grand Final.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West Gate Bridge

West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

It spans the Yarra River, just north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city (CBD) and Melbourne’s western suburbs; with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city of Geelong, 80 km to the south-west. It is one of the busiest road corridors in Australia.

Main river span is 336 metres in length, and the height above the water is 58 metres. Total length of the bridge is 2,582.6 metres. It is the third longest in Australia behind the 3.2 km Macleay River Bridge and the Houghton Highway along with its twin the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, and is twice as long as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

It is one of the highest bridges in Australia and passes over Westgate Park, a large environmental and recreational reserve created during the bridge’s construction. West Gate Bridge carries up to 200,000 vehicles per day.

Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel arch design that takes 12 months to paint from beginning to end before the process recommences each year.

 

Abbreviations

(AFL)              Australian Football League

(VFL)              Victorian Football League (VFL preceded the AFL Competition)

(MCG)            Melbourne Cricket Ground