Halesowen firm heads for the top – of the tower

A BLACK Country firm has secured work as part of a £6m project to restore Blackpool Tower to its former glory.

Water blast systems supplier Jetstream Europe is supplying two ultra-high pressure water jet units to the team in charge of refurbishing the iconic 518ft landmark.

The Halesowen company’s machines are being used as part of an accelerated works programme to revamp the top of the tower in preparation for the opening of a new observation deck in September. The full restoration programme is set for completion in 2015.

Contractor MPM North West is using the Jetstream machines to strip away decades of paint and rust so that engineers can check the structure and replace any faulty steelwork before it is repainted in its original red colour.

The restoration team chose Jetstream opted to bring in a second Jetstream machine after being impressed by the performance of its initial purchase, a similar ultra-high pressure water jet unit with a twin-gun operator function.

The equipment was specially devised to be compact and lightweight so it was not only suitable for use on a purpose-built scaffold system, but could also be easily transported to the work site via the tower’s lifts.

David Hulme, project manager, said: “Jetstream Europe was able to build the machines to our requirements. The units are easy to maintain which means downtime is kept to a minimum and they can be run as efficiently as possible.”