A complex bridge restoration in London brought an industry award to an Ellesmere Port company.
EPIC Painting, on the Rossfield Trading Estate, part of the Hankinson Group, won the industrial category of the Painting Decorating Association Awards for the third time in four years.
Work was carried out on the Rockingham Street bridge, located in a residential area at the Elephant and Castle in the capital.
The main concern facing the company was noise affecting an immediately adjoining apartment block.
Operations manager at EPIC Painting, Graham Lawrence, said: “The bridge needed grit blasting and painting, a complex project in the Central London Congestion Charging Zone, made even more difficult by the apartment block which stood literally one metre from the side of the bridge.
“We took responsibility for the design and installation of the scaffolding and encapsulation of the bridge and to overcome noise from the grit blasting installed acoustic panels as well as splitting the work into two phases to keep echoing to a minimum.
“We undertook extensive training and testing to make sure our operatives were safe to work within the requirements of Network Rail and tackle the previous coating which contained lead.
“This included regular blood tests to monitor levels of lead in their bloodstream.”
Group chief executive Stephen Hankinson said: “To have won the industrial category in the premier painting industry awards three years out of four is a remarkable achievement.
“The award-winning contracts show the versatility of the company.”
Graham added: “It’s always an honour to win a national award and to now have won three times in the last four years is testament to the hard work and effort that everyone puts in.
“The focus is already on next year’s awards as we have a number of exciting projects to enter and are hopeful that we can maintain this winning streak.”
In addition to this success, EPIC’s work at Liverpool Football Club in preparing and painting the Centenary Stand received the ‘Commended’ accolade, also in the industrial category.
