Digital refresh

Two 21m working height truck mounts from Wilson Access helped industrial painting contractors repaint the prestigious Trafford Arch digital advertising site in Manchester, UK.

The site is owned by media giant JCDecaux and provides two digital screens on the A56, one of Manchester’s key road routes. The site was the first in the UK to span a major road. It has a width of 46m and weighs an estimated 50 tonnes.

The work involved sanding down, priming and repainting the entire Arch over a six-week period. The industrial painting contractor worked with Trafford’s traffic management scheme to physically shut both sides of the dual carriageway each night from 23:00 to 05:00. They hired the 21m truck mounts from Wilson Access as working across the embankment and the barrier wasn’t possible with a scissor lift. The platforms were the ideal application for the job as they had to be taken offsite at the end of each night shift. It wasn’t possible to leave access equipment on site for security reasons, so the trucks were a perfect solution, as they could be moved to a secure yard at the end of each shift.

The project duration was due to be six weeks, but the versatility of the truck mounts meant the project was completed early in five weeks.

The truck mounts both have a maximum working height of 20.70m and a 9.90m horizontal outreach. They are part of a fleet of 70 Wilson truck and track mounted platforms with working heights from 14m to 57m.