M5 East Freeway Maintenance Work Update – July 2012
The M5 East Freeway was closed for scheduled night time maintenance work, from the 15/07/2012 to 18/07/2012.
During this closure, Leighton Contractors undertook various planned maintenance activities such as drain cleaning, pit inspections and routine cleaning, as part of the freeways maintenance schedule.
One of the activities carried out during the month of July, was the washing of the tunnel walls. Each closure period the walls of the tunnel are washed and cleaned with the use of the specialised Wall Washer. The Wall Washer is basically a large truck with spinning brushes and water sprayers that drives along the edge of the tunnel and cleans in a similar way to a car wash.
Another major piece of work that was carried out in the closure period was the systematic testing of the tunnel fire system and in particular, density testing of the tunnel fire deluge system. The deluge system is a large amount of water dropped in a specific position which can be used on fires to quickly put the fire out.
Other planned maintenance activities also conducted during this closure included:
- Rubbish removal and vegetation trimming for freeway.
- Cleaning of cross passages within the tunnels.
- Inspection and cleaning of CCTV equipment.
- Inspection and maintenance of tunnel fans.
- Core hole drilling for new overhead gantries.
