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)
“Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“How easily it falls, how easily I let drift
On the surface of morning feathers of self-reproach:
How easily I disperse the scolding of snow.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)