The Horseshoe Lagoon Bridge located near the Moama Wharf was an old timber bridge spanning approximately 115 metres long over the Murray River. Due to the weather damage inflicted over the past several years and recent engineering inspections, the existing bridge was classified unsafe and was not meeting weight load requirements.

The Murray River Council decided to decommission the old timber bridge and construct an entirely new structure fabricated out of Structural & Tubular Steel. During the early stages of designing the bridge, it was initially specified to have a paint finish. However, the fabricator advocated for hot-dip galvanizing after consultations with a reputable local galvanizer. The conversion was approved quite easily after the team learned hot-dip galvanizing would provide the most suitable anti-corrosive coating in this environment.

The bridge fabrication schedule had very strict time deadlines and had to be commissioned in time for the grand opening of the “Moama Lights” lighting up the beautiful Murray River, which was scheduled to commence on July 31st, 2022. With a carefully detailed project plan and schedule as a guide, all parties involved communicated daily to avoid any issues or delays. This became especially important as supply & logistical challenges related to steel availability outside the team’s control delayed deliveries.

Outside of supply chain issues, one of the biggest challenges of this project was coordinating the requirements for sandblasting to remove protective black lacquer prior to hot-dip galvanizing. Additionally, the bridge was built and assembled in the fabricators workshop located in Bendigo, about 95km from the installation site. Although this posed an additional challenge to the project team, nothing would stop them from hitting their late July deadline.

As previously mentioned, HDG was not originally specified for this project. When the stakeholders found out it was not only a better method of corrosion protection in this freshwater environment but also a more economical solution, it was easy to change their minds. More importantly, hot-dip galvanized steel structures are more resistant to natural disasters such as fires, floods, and falling trees. In an area susceptible to these types of issues, galvanizing would far exceed painting in the time until first maintenance is required.

The Horseshoe Lagoon Bridge project was successfully completed in time for the Moama Light show. The exposed HDG steel of the bridge garnered overwhelming publicity from both the Echuca & Moama councils. It has been featured on the Melbourne news and is used by residents and hundreds of tourists on a weekly basis. The project demonstrates how hot-dip galvanizing is an economical, damage resistant alternative to paint and the overall most suitable method of corrosion protection for infrastructure projects. It enables Australia councils to look at other existing timber structures and compare to a hot-dip galvanized solution.