01.09.2017

Steel scaffold at its most basic

Spotted by a reader in Columbo Sri Lanka men working on the façade of the city’s most famous hotel with the most basic of steel façade scaffolds possible.
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The sumptuous Galle Face Hotel with its basic scaffolding

The men have been given a basic framework of tube and coupler scaffold poles to work from, covering the full five storeys of the building,to a height of around 15 metres, with horizontal scaffold poles replacing platforms. The one-dimensional scaffold is anchored into the window recesses, otherwise it wi=ould not stay upright, and the men working are expected to stand on the horizontal tubes below and hold on to the tube above, with the spare arm left to do the work. They all have large buckets of paint whcih they have to carry as they move along the tubes, in order to gain a free hand to paint, they have an 'S' hook to hang the bucket from the hanging tube.
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Four of the men working in the fourth and fifth floors at heights of around 15 metres

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One hand to hold and one to work the rollers etc...

One of the five men working on the scaffold has a rudimentary lanyard attached to waist belt, while all of them are equipped with gloves to help with all that hanging on. This has to be the most basic steel façade scaffolds we have ever seen, and definitely one for our Death Wish series.
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Moving along the pole can be dodgy

Astonishingly this is one of the most historic hotels in the region, the 150 year old Galle Face Hotel, while privately owned it prides itself on being a luxurious place to stay, and as such has every incentive to ensure that good practices are followed and the risk of a fatal incident minimised. A salesman needs to call.
Have a safe weekend