Short Story:
Remmers’ Rotec® low pressure whirljet cleaning equipment has been used to clean the historic O’Connell Street stone monuments for Dublin City Council.
The Council made a benchmark decision to thoroughly investigate the best system to clean years of accumulated dirt and pollution, without damaging the sensitive stone surfaces and to ensure that these and other heritage structures could be successfully preserved.
Jason Ellis, Sculpture Conservator and Project Leader says “Remmers Rotec® System was the clear winner – even able to clean the stone and marble without harming the finely honed and polished surfaces”.
Full Story:
Remmers patented Rotec® low pressure rotary whirljet cleaning equipment has been used to clean the historic O’Connell Street memorial stone monuments for Dublin City Council.
During the last 150 years the famous statues have been commissioned and erected by the City Council following individual donations and public subscription. They are now an important part of the city’s heritage and a street scene that is known around the world.
In the past for many authorities the cleaning of statues and monuments was not always regarded as a specialist task and this led to many being damaged, often during inappropriate but well intentioned efforts to clean and restore them. Dublin City Council made a benchmark decision to thoroughly investigate the available means and to ensure that these and other heritage structures, could be maintained and preserved for future generations to enjoy.
They appointed Jason Ellis, Sculpture Conservator, as Project Leader with Creggstone as the main contractor and Professional Conservation Solutions as specialists for cleaning the stone and marble.
A full two months of the programme were allocated for extensive testing, trials and evaluation of the most appropriate cleaning equipment and materials – Jason Ellis says “Remmers Rotec® equipment was the clear winner - even able to clean the stone and marble without harming the finely honed and polished surfaces”.
The Rotec® equipment uses Remmers ultra-fine glass powder as the abrasive, operating at a pressure of only around 15-20 psi, due to its technically advanced ‘whirljet’ ceramic nozzles.
Addendum:- Additional Editors Information on Dublin’s O’Connell Street Monuments and Statues
The first was erected in 1864 at the southern end of the street next to the River Liffey, cast in bronze on a limestone plinth, is of Daniel O’Connell himself, the ‘Emancipator’ who gained the freedom of Irish Catholics in 1832, and after whom the street itself was renamed in 1922.
At the northern end is the Galway pink granite monument and bronze statue of Charles Stuart Parnell, the leading figure in achieving home rule for Ireland.
In between are bronze statues on stone plinths of James Joyce, the renowned author, James Larken, the Trade Unionist, and Padraig Sheahan, the city Policeman who died overcome by fumes in 1905, whilst successfully rescuing an injured workman from sewers beneath the street.
Also in the centre are three particularly impressive white Carrara Italian marble statues of William Smith O’Brien, the Irish Nationalist, Sir John Gray, whose engineering brought fresh water to the city, and Father Theobald Mathew, who founded the Temperance Movement.
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