Project: Flinders Pier handrail supply
Location: Flinders, Victoria, on the Mornington Peninsula
Scope: 160 lineal metres, galvanised 2-rail handrail, supply only
The Challenge
Flinders Pier sits where Western Port meets Bass Strait, looking across to Phillip Island. It is one of the busier stretches of public pier on the Mornington Peninsula, used year round for fishing, diving, boating and walking, and it stays open to the community while work goes on around it.
Two things about that setting shaped the handrail specification.
The first is exposure. Weather comes off Bass Strait with nothing in front of it. Salt spray, wind and constant moisture will get through painted or powder coated steel on a structure like this, and replacing handrail on a pier is expensive work once it is in. Whatever went on had to last without a maintenance program behind it.
The second is installation. Bridgewater Marine elected to install the handrail with their own crew rather than bring a separate trade onto the pier. That meant the system had to go together on site, over water, without welding and without specialist tools.
The Solution
Uni-Fit supplied 160 lineal metres of galvanised 2-rail handrail for the pier as a complete package of pipe and fittings, ready for the client to install.
This was the second project with Bridgewater Marine. The first was Williamstown Pier, where Uni-Fit supplied and installed 95 lineal metres of the same 2-rail system, including a ramp section raked on site to a 4 degree slope.
Supply only works well with this system. The fittings bolt together and tighten to 55Nm with an Allen key. No welding, no hot works, no specialist equipment. Bridgewater already had the crew, the plant and the water access on site, so handing them the full kit was quicker and cheaper than scheduling a second contractor around tides and weather.
Everything was supplied hot-dip galvanised. In a Western Port marine environment that is the finish that makes sense. It holds up against salt corrosion far better than paint or powder coat, and it needs no recoating over its service life.
Project breakdown
• 160 L/m galvanised 2-rail handrail.
• Full supply of pipe and fittings, ready for on-site installation.
• Installed by the client’s own crew. No welding, no hot works, Allen key assembly.
• Hot-dip galvanised finish specified for coastal marine exposure.
• Second project with Bridgewater Marine, following Williamstown Pier.
The Outcome
The handrail now runs along the pier deck at one of the more exposed pier locations in Victoria, in a spot that carries public foot traffic all year. It went in with the client’s own crew, no hot works, and the galvanised finish is built to sit there without attention.
The repeat work is the part worth noting. Bridgewater Marine had already used the system at Williamstown, knew how it went together, and specified it again on the next pier.
Questions about this project or a similar application? Call 1800 868 544 or email sales@uni-fit.com.au
