High Level cleaning at Ashton Gate Stadium

We recently cleaned the steel structures on the roof of the new south and west stands at Ashton gate. The impressive white steel poles of the structure had become badly stained by algae which made them look dirty and gave a rather negative impression. OneFifty was asked to remove the algae and restore the poles to their original white colour.

Options for high-level access

At its highest point the structure extends 8.5 metres above the tallest section of the stadium, reaching a total height of 40 metres. As experts in high level access, with IPAF and IRATA trained operatives, we have a range of options available for us to clean areas that have challenging access issues.

Finding the best approach

We were able to access and clean the structure above the south stand by using a combination of our cherry picker and telescopic poles to achieve the required reach and give the white steel poles a thorough clean.

The challenge was the west stand. Given it's height and the position of the steel structure there wasn't sufficient room to position a MEWP - rope access was our best option. Working from ropes brings its own challenges as the operatives also needed to gain purchase in order to clean effectively with pressurised steam while suspended in their harnesses.

A combination of creativity and skill.

Our rope access team has years of experience and a very thorough understanding of using ropes to work at high level. This, combined with our expertise in different cleaning options, enabled us to crack this challenge.

It took a team of ten in total to complete the work, and a lot careful planning to find, test and agree the best approach, but we did it. We overcame all the challenges, got the job done and achieved a fantastic outcome. The aglae stained structure is now back to its original colour and free from algae. The stadium is once again looking its brilliant best  – and we have yet another very pleased client.

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