Well, we had a very interesting day today, experimenting with using recycled plastic as bridge decking. It’s a concept we’ve wanted to try for a long time, exploring alternatives to timber.
We’ll be trialling the success of this over the next few months to determine its suitability as a alternative to timber, especially in regards to durability, appearance, ease of install etc etc.
We’ll go into this in much more detail next week, however it should be quite an interesting project. It turns out it’s very quick to assemble and very easy to work with, we’ll cover all the specifics next week, as it’ll make much more sense once it’s in place.
We’ve preconstructed the deck, with gravel beams (kerbs), something which can be done with timber, but it really then requires a crane to install given the weight, however this is significantly lighter and should be easily managed with the big digger.
It’s been assembled in 3 sections, stacked onto a trolley, ready for taking out to site next week. The trial bridge will be Muckleford Creek, given its decking is due for renewal in the next few years. We’ll undertake the rest of the assembly on site, late next week, with Tuesday’s gang preparing the bridge for the swap.
On Tuesday we’ll meet at Maldon at 8am or out by Muckleford Creek Bridge from 8.30am.
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