GVK-Siya Zama restores lighthouses on eastern coastline

These days, lighthouses no longer have the sole purpose of guiding sailors safely. Rather they have become tourist attractions for visitors to South Africa's coastal regions. As a result a piece of the country's history is shared with the world, jobs are created and funds generated contribute to the tourism industry and thereby the economy.

7 Nov 2012

Image courtesy of Marcus / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To help ensure the survival of these beacons, specialist contractors GVK-Siya Zama have redecorated, restored and repaired a number of lighthouses along the eastern coastline. "It's not surprising that lighthouses have become a must-see attraction for tourists with their incredible views of the sea and surrounding land. The history of each individual lighthouse is also very interesting," says Johnny Botes of GVK-Siya Zama's operation in KwaZulu-Natal. Some of the lighthouses that the Siya Zama team have worked on include those at Jesser Point, Cape Vidal, Port Shepstone, Cape St. Lucia and Port Edward.

Three coats of paint

"At Jesser Point, Cape Vidal and Port Edward we conducted exterior restorations which involved erecting a galvanised scaffold to remove all the existing paint," Botes explains. "After that, we applied a coat of neutron alkali resistant sealer and filled cracks. Once this was complete we applied three coats of an acrylic waterproofing paint - washing the tower in between coats. We also carried out waterproofing around the lantern room and installed new glazing along with washing, repairing and repainting the interior."

Work on the Port Shepstone and Cape St. Lucia lighthouses entailed removing paint with a pressure jet and filling holes and imperfections on the exterior with epoxy filler. The crew also applied coats of epoxy primer, epoxy mastic coating, an aliphatic polyurethane topcoat for gloss and colour retention as well as another polyurethane coating to protect the structures' steel.

"Repairing and restoring lighthouses comes with certain challenges - the biggest of which is the weather," shares Botes. "On a few of the towers we tried to use a swing scaffold to cut down on time, but unfortunately the wind was too great and we had to revert back to a static scaffold."