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Repair Bids Sought for 1885 Lighthouse

Monday, November 5, 2012

More items for Program/Project Management

The Delaware Office of Management and Budget is inviting bids until Nov. 16 for repairs and recoating work on the historic Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse in Lewes, DE.

University of North Carolina

The 127-year-old Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse was home to resident light keepers until 1950.

The base bid for repairs on the 47-foot-tall conical light house includes spot-coating new and repaired metal surfaces and the entrance door. The contract also includes three alternates for additional coatings application: the upper and lower halves of the exterior metal surfaces and new wood window frames and sashes.

Coatings Work

The existing coatings contain lead, which will be removed by abrasive blast-cleaning metal surfaces to a Commercial finish (SSPC-SP 6) and chemically stripping wood surfaces with a solvent-based paint stripper designed to remove lead-containing paint. Environmental protection (containment) will be required.

New and existing exterior woodwork will be coated with two coats of alkyd primer and two coats of latex finish.

Metal surfaces will be coated with an alkyd-enamel finish. The contract includes an alternate for coating the metal with a zinc-rich primer, an epoxy intermediate, and a fluoropolymer finish.

The tower is constructed of brick with cast-iron plates and a cast-iron caisson foundation.

Repairs are scheduled to begin in the spring of 2013. A cost estimate has not been published.

About the Lighthouse

The structure was built in 1885 due to the rapid deterioration of its predecessor, the Cape Henlopen Beacon. The lighthouse served as home for resident lightkeepers until 1950, when the tower became automated.

The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1996, and ownership was passed to the State of Delaware in 1999. A partnership was created in 2004 between the Delaware River Bay Authority and the not-for-profit Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation (DRBLHF) to preserve the lighthouse and promote its educational value.  

The DRBLHF conducted eight tours of the Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse during the summer 2012 tour season and plans to continue giving tours in the 2013 season.

Reported by Paint BidTracker, a construction reporting service devoted to identifying contracting opportunities for the coatings community. Visit us on Facebook!

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article was published Nov. 5 in PaintSquare News.