When it comes to preserving bridges and bridge sections, the people at Straco Waspik know what to do. Martin Groenendaal explains why the company is increasingly specialising in bridge-related work: “Many companies simply lack the capacity to be able to treat large bridge sections. We, on the other hand, can process even the most ‘awkwardly shaped’ sections at our unit no. 1.
Water taxi jetty
Our colleagues at Straco Waspik have been working on a range of bridges and bridge sections over the past few months, including a water taxi jetty for the town of Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht. Martin: “What was special about that particular project was that we used five different colours to paint a surface of 650m²; from the bridge railing to the road surface. The fact that the client wanted different colours really made this water taxi jetty a very labour-intensive project for us.”
Cycle bridges
For the Gagel bridge, a cycle bridge in Utrecht, our Straco colleagues blasted and metallised as much as 1,800 m² of steel for De Kok Staalbouw. Third parties subsequently installed the stainless steel wire mesh to fill openings in the cycle bridge, which they did on site at Straco Waspik’s. Martin: “It was impressive to see how they did it all by hand! Each wire was attached manually.”
After all the work in Waspik was completed, the Gagel bridge was moved to its final destination in Utrecht at night. The great height of the bridge sections meant that a route without flyovers to pass under had to be planned.
Due to the tight schedule, the Gagel bridge was another prestige job for Straco Waspik: thanks to the efforts of everyone involved, the job was done successfully in a short time span.
Also on the Gazelle bridge job for the town of Veghel, Straco Waspik worked against the clock. Even though this 110-metre bridge had to be painted in one colour only, it had to be done in no time, so as to ensure that the four sections were in place before the construction industry holiday period. •