Zeeland Bridge facelift

Over the past year, 33 of the 54 pillars supporting the 5-kilometre plus long Zeeland Bridge, which has been a national monument since 2015, were given a new coat of paint. Work on the remaining 21 pillars will take place in 2019. The immense paint job was completed in three months by a special team assembled by the contractor Gebr. Van Kessel, a member of the Koninklijke VolkerWessels Group.

To allow the work to proceed as smoothly as possible, Boels supplied, among other things, aerial work platforms, generators, external fuel tanks, compressors, air-less automatic spray-guns, storage containers and Bio Boxes. Working from aerial work platforms, the pillars were spray-cleaned at high pressure, inspected for concrete damage and, if necessary, repaired. The pillars were then given a new coat of paint, which was applied via an internally fed roller. This made it possible for the painters to work faster and increased quality by spreading the paint more evenly. The painting took place from three pontoons. Each pillar required 200 kilos of paint. Apart from the five men who worked on the pillars from aerial work platforms supplied by Boels, barges not only supplied the necessary materials, but also ensured that the pontoons stayed in the right place and did not drift away.