Roping up to paint London’s Millennium Bridge
The Millennium Bridge in London, UK, had an inauspicious beginning. On its opening in 2000, people did not walk its 1000-ft length, rather they were bounced and vibrated along it before returning to the safety of steady ground. After engineers pinpointed and fixed the issues, it reopened two years later. Since then, it has attracted countless tourists after prominently featuring on TV and in films, including Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince and music videos for Taylor Swift and One Direction.
Fifteen years after the bridge’s unveiling, its owners hired rope-access specialist CAN, an RSK company, to redecorate and restore the bridge to its original brilliance. But the job came with considerable difficulties, primarily continuing public access, as the City of London Corporation owned bridge eases the daily journey for thousands of pedestrians travelling from Southbank to Temple.
“We cannot just shut the bridge down to carry out work. We have to keep it open to allow the people who cross it every day to continue using it,” said Paul Monaghan, Assistant Director of Engineering at the City of London Corporation.
Moreover, the steel suspension bridge cannot bear the weight of a full scaffolding rig, so CAN had to come up with an alternative way to access the bridge’s two piers, various supports and hidden underside. Its tailor-made solution was a rope-access system that was cheaper, quicker and more practical than scaffolding.
CAN’s engineers used IRATA rope access techniques and equipment to lower themselves onto a custom designed and built, lightweight aluminium cradle beneath the deck of the bridge. From here, safely secured to ropes but with firm footing provided by the suspended cradle, they repaired and prepared the surface before applying a fresh coat of waterproof paint. The eight-week programme was completed on schedule to the satisfaction of the client. Many interested tourists snapped photos of the CAN specialists safely dangling from ropes with paintbrushes in hand.
- Location: England
- Client: City of London
- Project status: Completed
- Sector: Property and Construction
- Service: Structural Maintenance and Repair Specialist Access
Supporting the creation of a new garden village in Cheshire
View ProjectRepairing lightning damage on a wind turbine in Scotland
View ProjectHelping Singapore meet its future waste disposal needs
View ProjectDesigning and assessing an onshore wind farm in the Highlands of Scotland
View ProjectDesigning and assessing proposed windfarms in Scotland
View ProjectEnvironmental and social risk appraisal support for African “power-to-x” development
View ProjectConsulting on the construction of the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant, Singapore
View ProjectBringing international best practice and process to phase 2 of Singapore’s Deep Tunnel Sewerage System
View ProjectFacilitating renewable energy investments in Europe
View ProjectEnsuring shale gas projects for Poland and beyond
View ProjectProviding award-winning storm water solutions for urban flooding challenges
View ProjectUpgrading sewage treatment facilities to serve community needs in Hong Kong
View Project
📢 Join us at the #WorldWaterTech Innovation Summit to discuss practical solutions to some of the biggest challenges faced by our water and wastewater systems.
🤝 Attend our Fireside Chat, where Siôn Brackenbury from RSK’s TerrAffix will be speaking on ‘Waste to Value: Advancing Resource & Nutrient Recovery'
We look forward to seeing you there!
#WaterSector #WaterIndustry #Innovation #Tech #Summit #Wastewater
🌎 As a global leader in the delivery of sustainable solutions, we won’t shy away from our role in the huge task the world faces – this has guided our growth over the last year.
💚 We strive for sustainability in all that we do and our commitment to this has been reaffirmed in our FY22 sustainability report.
Read more in our story!
#Sustainability #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Sustainable
📸 #selfiesonsite 🤳
@facaderemedialconsultants's team were on-site with a contractor in Bristol, progressing another Building Safety Fund project! 👏
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities 👉 www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #construction
😮 Natural wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests: 35% of global wetlands were lost between 1970 and 2015, and overall, 85% have been lost since the 1700s.
💧 It's #WorldWetlandsDay, which aims to raise awareness of the vital role of wetlands for people and the planet.
💚 We need to change our mindset around these essential habitats and their importance.
#Wetlands #Environment #Environmental #Sustainability #Sustainable
📢 We are delighted to welcome leading infrastructure group @pensarinfrastructure to the #RSKFamily.
💧 This strategic move will see Pensar join RSK Australia and bolster the Group’s expertise in water and critical infrastructure in the region.
Find out more in our stories!
#WaterSector #WaterIndustry #Water #Australia #Infrastructure
💚 From carbon neutrality to net zero, many terms and key phrases are often used interchangeably to talk about sustainability.
🤔 But what do all these keywords and phrases mean?
Find out in our story!
#Sustainability #Environment #Sustainable #Environmental #NetZero #CarbonFootprint
📸 #selfiesonsite 🤳
RSK Geophysics Michael Puntorno out on-site providing SafeGround service avoidance for @rskgeosciences as part of a site investigation next to the River Trent.
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities 👉 www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #geosciences
🌎 As the scale of worldwide habitat loss becomes clear, the biodiversity crisis is gaining more attention on the global stage.
🌳 We asked green roof and ecology expert Dusty Gedge for his views on creating more sustainable urban landscapes.
Read more in our story!
#GreenRoofs #Biodiversity #Environmental #Environment #Sustainability #Ecology