The Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge has been a monument of Teeside area since it opened in 1911. The bridge is a total of 260 metres in length which makes it the longest of its type remaining in the world. Its cantilever construction has three main bridge spans that give it its unique appearance. The bridge is, effectively, two almost independent structures joined at the centre of the River Tees.
Each half of the bridge has an 'anchor' span of 42 metres and then cantilevers across the river some 86 metres from the tower leg to meet its twin from the opposite bank. The passenger gondola is suspended by steel cables and runs on a wheel and rail system 50 metres above the River Tees.
The bridge remians fully operational and provides a regular quarter-hourly service between Middlesbrough and Port Clarence for 18 hours a day. This service is interrupted from time to time for routine maintenance works, with some lengthier closures for major refurbishment.
It remains the largest of the Transporter Bridges operating worldwide, and provides a valuable public transport service, crossing the river in two minutes.
In December 1993, the bridge was awarded the Institution of Mechanical Engineers' highest honour, The Heritage Plaque, for engineering excellence, in recognition of the Council's efforts in keeping the bridge in good working order.
Its historical importance was also recognised in 1985 by its listing as a Grade II* Listed Building and its prominence as a local landmark was further enhanced in 1993 by the installation of flood lights that operate during the winter months.
In April 1996 local government re-organisation transferred the ownership of the bridge to Middlesbrough Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council with Middlesbrough Council responsible for the day-to-day running and maintenance.
T.I. Protective Coatings carried out a £580,000 painting contract on the Transporter Bridge in August 2003, the works lasted until December of that year and in that time a team of 12 Industrial Painters used IRATA rope access techniques to ensure that the structure was completely overcoated using a 4 coat paint system consisting of 2 prime coats of Interseal 670 Aluminimum & Grey, then a 3rd coat of Interlac 658 in Grey again and ultimately the final coat, an Interlac 655 18E53 in a light blue was applied to complete the project, all paint was supplied by International Paints and the system was developed by Akzo Nobel.
The minimum Dry Film Thickness which must be achieved through application of this paint system was 400 microns. T.I. Protective Coatings deployed one of their in-house Institute of Corrosion Accredited Paint Inspectors to the site to ensure that the application is carried out to ISO 9001:2000 standard to which the company operates. In order to carry out testing the inspector utilizes calibrated inspection equipment.
The painters who worked on the Transporter applied over 15,000 litres of paint to the steelwork. With the support base of the structures 4 legs being wet blasted; 100 tonnes of abrasive was used to remove the millscale. This proved to be a difficult task because of the tidal system which operates upon the River Tees. Where silt and dirt cleaned from the Transporters supports were washed away ready for blasting and painting; the overnight tides brought it all back. This presented T.I. Protective Coatings with a unique challenge where work had to be undertaken in the windows of opportunity that the tides present. These challenges had to be overcome while achieving the correct paint specification which the client required; this includes the clean steel to which the paint must be applied under the correct atmospheric conditions.
