Taking care of water-damaged concrete

No matter how advanced the design is, it seems like bridges will always need thorough repairs after long periods of time due to the harsh conditions the water puts them up against.

These renovations often require heavy equipment, barges and special tools necessary for ensuring the concrete care work doesn't result in any dirty materials falling into the body of water.

Such was the case during a recent project in the Hawkesbury River, where Kennards Concrete Care teamed up with Freyssinet Australia to perform the renovations that were needed on the bridge's concrete pillars.

"The repairs mainly focus on the pile caps, which support the columns," explained Freyssinet  project engineer Scott MacDonald.

"Each pile cap is 20 metres long and three metres wide."

The difficult repairs were made even harder by the constantly shifting tide. The crew only had a small window each day to get the work done on the lower areas of the scaffolding.

In the end, the products Kennards supplied, such as a large diesel mixer pump, helped the workers get the job done quickly and effectively, ensuring the heritage-listed Pacific Highway Bridge will stand for decades to come.