Brisbane City Council may soon introduce a modernised way of maintaining the city’s bridges, walls, and tunnels. That includes the iconic Walter Taylor Bridge.
A quick overview
Brisbane has 1,028 bridges, seven cross-river bridges, 1,014 retaining walls and 23 tunnels. Imagine the upkeep of all these places; pretty tedious, right? Council senior engineer Isaac Scott has proposed a hi-tech way for the upkeep of these places.
Laser beams, Drones & Robots
Drones are already being used by the council as part of their bridge maintenance. A drone was used to inspect the Walter Taylor Bridge for inspection. It is also included in Chelmer’s bridge maintenance.
The Council is also taking a look at Germany’s CleanLASER, which was already tested on the Story Bridge. They are looking at the use of this laser as an alternative to abrasive blasting with a few tweaks. The laser beam dislodges the paint system, rust, bird droppings and other elements on the structure.
CleanLASER uses a combination of laser and heavy duty vacuum that makes it safer and cleaner than abrasive blasting.
Robots are also being considered to deliver the blasting work on bridges and for the simple inspection of small areas.
With this technology, the city may be looking at a significant increase in efficiency when it comes to the upkeep of these structures, should everything work out perfectly. As of now, the future seems bright for the city, given the promising results from the various technologies that have been tested.