To complement the walkway decking at Castlemaine failing, the decking at Maldon has also decided to fail, in sympathy! Thankfully Castlemaine table now has a flash new steel deck and with one table out of action the second isn’t very useful so it’s now getting the same treatment while we’re still running a relatively small number of steam services.
The timber on Maldon table is actually a few years younger than Castlemaine, however not far off being as deteriated. That doesn’t mean however that the old bolts and screws are easy to get out!
Thankfully the table timbers are in excellent condition, being less than 20 years old (both tables were retimbered about the same time), this is a fairly rare view of a table without walkways, but otherwise complete.
Photos of the new decking of both tables will feature in the coming weeks. Being of much more durable construction, expanded mesh braced with old point rodding. The results at Castlemaine have a strange effect, they actually greatly improve the appearance and show off the impressive piece of engineering that is a turntable, while being a major safety upgrade.
VGR Civil Blog 