Surface
The approach and initial climb up the bridge have a smooth asphalt surface; however, on the top of the bridge the surface was uneven and bumpy when it was built. In September 2006, it was announced that the entire bridge would be resurfaced, only five years after the last resurfacing. This was completed in November 2009 by the construction firm Stirling Lloyd. However, the surfacing was carried out by the Swiss firm Aeschlimann using its own workforce and also importing all the plant used. A new type of asphalt called Gussasphalt was used on the bridge deck. In addition to having a smooth, skid-resistant finish, it requires no compaction and can be applied in very thin layers, thus reducing the weight added to the bridge. It is also flexible and as a result should last longer than the previous resurfacing.
Read more about this topic: Avonmouth Bridge
Famous quotes containing the word surface:
“If the man who paints only the tree, or flower, or other surface he sees before him were an artist, the king of artists would be the photographer. It is for the artist to do something beyond this: in portrait painting to put on canvas something more than the face the model wears for that one day; to paint the man, in short, as well as his features.”
—James Mcneill Whistler (1834–1903)
“I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little, odious vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“A society which allows an abominable event to burgeon from its dungheap and grow on its surface is like a man who lets a fly crawl unheeded across his face or saliva dribble unstemmed from his mouth—either epileptic or dead.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)