DUNCAN MACLEAN, RHINOCEROS LIMITED
M11/M25 JUNCTION
At RHINOCEROS, we're happy to work at any time of the day or night. In fact, much of our cleaning work in towns and cities is carried out at night or in the early hours of the morning - when most residents and commuters are still in bed.
However, when we were awarded a contract to paint 450 lamp columns at the busy M11/M25 motorway interchange, night-work just wasn't practical. Sunny autumn days and cold nights created heavy dew on the steel columns - unsuitable conditions for painting.
Working together
The weather conditions prevented the application of paint at night. When we explained this to the Highways Agency, they agreed to permit us to work during the day, and granted additional lane closures to allow us to work safely.
The work was carried out from self-propelled hydraulic access platforms - highly efficient for this kind of work. All 450 lamp columns were cleaned and any rust or loose material was removed by wire brushing. A Micaceous Iron Oxide (MiO) primer was applied, followed by an MiO undercoat. The final coat was a modified vinyl MiO to BS 00 A 05.
Despite days when we were unable to work due to rain or high winds, the contract was completed in a little over four weeks.
