Mohammad Ali, GHD
Swansea bridge, constructed circa 1989, is a high profile opening bridge on the Pacific Highway at Swansea, NSW (refer Figure 1).
Due to harsh marine exposure, the bridge substructure elements have suffered from reinforcement corrosion induced deterioration. A long life and environmentally sustainable rehabilitation option was required to be adopted to minimise community disturbance and achieve best value for money. There were numerous engineering challenges which were overcome by utilising sound and innovative engineering practice.
A comprehensive condition investigation was undertaken which assisted in careful selection of a most cost effective yet durable rehabilitation. Concrete cathodic protection (CP), a state of the art rehabilitation technique utilising DC electric current to combat reinforcement corrosion, was selected to provide a new life to this prominent bridge (refer Figures 2 & 3).
This project received the highly commended award from Engineers Australia in 2011. The related paper presented to Austroad 2011 conference also received a Merit award.