Kingsbridge, Swallowfield

A fine example of cast-iron bridge-building from the Victorian era has been refurbished to its original glory by a RHINOCEROS team.  The bridge at Kingsbridge in Swallowfield near Reading was originally cast by the S Griffith foundry, railway suppliers from the golden age of steam.  Hidden under corrosion and layers of paint, some containing lead, the Bridge was an interesting challenge.  The 3-ton weight limit ruled out the use of scaffolding for access. Following advice from an engineer used to working from barges,  RHINOCEROS sourced pontoons from Work on Water  The 8 x 7m pontoon was delivered and installed in just one day.  

The existing and failed coatings were removed with the aid of International Paints’ Interplus 634 Paint Disbonder. This is a bio-degradable  water based material designed to remove coatings from steel substrates and as tested by OECD 301B Co2 evaluation test.

Final surface preparation to Sa3 was carried out with mechanical hand tools.

Underneath the failed coatings beneath the bridge deck we found a sound bitumen coating system.  After local surface preparation, spot priming and follow up coats the entire underneath of the structure was given 3 coats of International Intertuf 16 (a compatible bitumen coating).

The parapets and all exposed ironwork is finished in Interthane 990 in distinctive leaf green Ral 6012.

S. Griffith Railway Foundry Manufacturers plate as it was before refurbishment and restored to its original glory