Repainting the bridge - Technology & maintenance - Sydney Harbour Bridge precinct

Regular repainting of the steelwork is an essential and ongoing part of maintaining the Sydney Harbour Bridge. New lead-free paint applied to steel on the bridge protects it from the atmosphere and limits rust from forming.

Approximately 485,000 square metres of steelwork – which is equivalent to about 60 football fields – needs to be painted, with 30,000 litres of paint required to give the bridge just one coat. Inspection of the steel work is necessary, and a variety of tradespeople help maintain the bridge. These trades include ironworkers, boilermakers, fitters, electricians, carpenters, riggers and painters.

To paint the bridge, temporary and permanent access platforms are used. Containment methodologies are also used to enclose environments where we are working and ensure lead particles from old paint on the bridge are captured and disposed of safely. 

There will be some changes to areas surrounding our repainting work, including the use of exclusion zones. These are used for the safety of our staff and the public.

We are working at multiple locations across the bridge, and from late February 2024, we will start work to repaint areas above the road deck of the bridge.

So that we can safely carry out this work, we will have temporary work zones on the bridge arch. These work zones provide safe locations for workers to carry out their tasks, whilst also providing safety for bridge users.

The work zones will be established overnight during existing lane closures on the bridge. For the latest traffic updates, visit livetraffic.com, download the Live Traffic NSW App or call 132 701.