There is a new fashion around London, wrapping bridges in plastic. I first noticed this when the bridge at Waterloo station was being decorated recently. Now I see that Tower Bridge has started to be wrapped. See picture…
You can see through the arch where the main metal supports have been wrapped up. Today I noticed another bridge on Borough Road also wrapped up, here is a picture:
And another one:
Now these wrapped bridges are very reminicent of some art works by the American Bulgarian artist Christo who has made a career out of wrapping buildings, bridges, rivers and sea shores.
Here is a work in progress called over the river. Building works copying art or art copying building works?
Apparently there is a practical need for shrink wrapping bridges. Here is an article from BNET:
It looks like the St. Johns Bridge has pulled on its winter woolens. But the white britches seemingly worn by the bridge’s west tower are designed to contain toxic paint chips – not to keep out the cold.
The white jacketing swaddling the tower pillars prevents any lead paint chips or scrapings from falling into the Willamette River while the bridge is repainted. Before the scraping and repainting can get under way, each of the bridge’s two main towers must be swathed in about 9,000 square yards of heavy-gauge, shrink-wrap plastic material.
The new paint job for the 72-year-old is part of a 30-month-long, $33 million rehabilitation of the bridge.
Subcontractor Long Painting Co. of Kent, Wash., will use between 16,000 gallons and 18,000 gallons of paint to spruce up the 3,000 foot-long bridge span and two 400-foot-high towers.
Before the new paint can go on, the old paint must be removed. The environmental precautions are being taken because lead-based paint was commonly used in before the 1970s.
Makes you wonder where all those poisonous chippings went before bridge wrapping become popular?
