Brunel's Other Bridge Bristol Swivel Bridge 2015

Brunel Swivel Bridge Project Photos January 2015

Removing some patch-repair plates to allow us to clean & inspect the inside of enclosed sections. We have agreed to carry out a permanent repair now as follows to the investigative test section. This will be done by Dorothea Restorations
Erecting a simple timber roof
renewal of the timber stop.
Moving the timber and erecting our new interpretation panels
More Cleaning and painting rusty areas
Unbolt and release the centre pintle casting
Jack up Bridge further
Level and Dimensional Survey
Metalwork condition survey using Ultrasonic equipment from DMV
Kentledge Weight Survey
Paint Analysis
Site Investigation, Excavating a hole adjacent the CI bed, SE side to search for a timber foundation-beam
Locate and obtain copies of drawings and past reports. Write a conservation plan
Seek letters of support

Library Exhibition 5 January to 15 Feb

Marilyn and her husband and Mike Taylor pondering how to display boards	Lots of boards
sponsor boards and our new leaflets on display	Marilyn Adams of AIBT who organised the exhibition looking relieved and happy

Friday 9th and Sunday 11th January

Julian from BFVS discusing how to film the project	Geoff, Martyn, Bob and Mike securing our new boards
Julian filming Bob	Julian filming Geoff
Julian, John, Bob and Tom doing the first survey of the year	Sample Repair Plates
Inside the tear section	repair-plates going in on the bottom triangular section of the south side-beam
The four bolts are special high-strength friction-grip bolts put in with a special pneumatic gun that tightens them by means of a spigot on the end that breaks off when the bolt is tight enough. They are very effective, and we are considering using them where we can't get in to rivet.	high-strength friction bolt
One of Dorothea's staff in protective gear laying next to the Bridge spot-blasting the underside prior to painting using a hard grit called aluminium oxide which scours away the rust but not the wrought iron.	finished repair
Another sample area blast-cleaned and painted	Geoff and Mike with Sarah- Underfall Yard's new Community, Learning and Volunteers Manager
Geoff and Mike got Sarah down into the wheel pit	Sarah having a look for herself
Geoff gave Sarah a quick powerpoint presentation and showed her how the friction-grip bolts work

Monday 19 January: Hot rivetting day!

First one makes sure the inside section is clean and painted. The curved piece on the other side is so rotten at this point it will have to be replaced	One welds the curved replacement patch in position. Rivet Holes lined up and checked
One gets the tongs and rivets- which must be the correct size since both ends will end up rounded and must hold the plates tightly together	One makes a little oven to heat the rivets in
Heats up with the gas torch	Runs over to the bridge with hot rivet
Puts it in the hole ready for the pneumatic hammer to hold the head	A 'holder-up' or 'backer-up' is used on the tail of the rivet. The energy from the hammer drives the work and the rivet against the inertia of the backer up. As a result, the tail of the rivet is rounded. The rivet does not harden on cooling, or it would be brittle. It does though contract and pull the plates tight which makes a really tight joint, hopefully water-tight (which is why it must be the right size and allow for the rounding).
Looks good	All done, bar tidying up the joins and painting
Its not every day one sees hot rivetting on the side of the docks so lots of photos. Julian Baldwin was there filming too	Completed job