In July, we commenced the maintenance work on the bridge on the Deventer side; this work involved restoring, repairing and cleaning concrete underneath the easterly span and repairing the concrete pillars. We also replaced a section of the concrete bridge road and the entire asphalt construction. A temporary bridge was built to enable emergency services, agricultural vehicles, motorcycles and bus line 171 to continue to use this route. The expansion joint at the abutment on the Deventer side was replaced and the remaining expansion joints were overhauled.

In order to conduct this work, the bridge had to be completely closed off, but instead of the scheduled 5 weeks, we were able to reduce this to just 4 weeks.
During this stage of the work, the arch of the bridge was also cleaned and the paint system restored.In addition, the paint on the principal beams at the top of the bridge, the guardrails and the lampposts were restored. The guardrails of the span on the Deventer side were disassembled, repaired and completely blasted and painted. The principal beams of the spans on the Twello side were completely blasted and repainted.

During the 3rd and 4th stages of the project, the wearing courses and asphalt layer of the footpaths and cycle paths were repaired and restored and we renovated the cable gutters. The abutments of the western underpass on Emmaweg and the Pothoofd were painted.

From October until April, using the inspection vehicles and scaffolding, we removed the old paint from underneath the bridge by means of shot blasting and applied new paint layers. This completed the maintenance activities and we able to hand over the Wilhelmina Bridge fully in accordance with the requirements laid down by the Department of Waterways and Public Works and the municipality of Deventer.

A few figures to give an idea of the scope of the work:

• 20,000 m2 of steel, pre-treated (cleaned or blasted) and painted
• 2,300 m2 of concrete, repaired
• 70 m2 of concrete bridge road replaced
• 4,000 m2 of asphalt replaced
• 3 expansion joints overhauled
• 1 expansion joint replaced
• 1,000 rivets replaced
• 300,000 kg of repair mortar used
• 1,200 tonnes of blasting grit used to remove the old paint
• 30,000 litres of new paint applied
• 2,000 brushes used
• 70 men at work every day at the peak of the project

We are extremely proud of the fact that we were able to complete this extensive project successfully and we look back on a pleasurable project, in which the open communication with the Department of Waterways and Public Works and the municipality of Deventer definitely contributed to the pleasant atmosphere and enjoyable collaboration.