Fresh Outlook For A Not-so-old Digger

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday November 10, 2006

Bellinda Kontominas

AGE has wearied the soldier standing guard at the western end of the Anzac Bridge. For the first time since it was erected in 2000 the bronze statue has been cleaned in a week-long process in preparation for a Remembrance Day ceremony tomorrow.

Rachid Ejjamai, of the company contracted to do the cleaning, Mr Brassman, said pollution and the salty harbourside air had started to corrode the statue's wax coating.

The 4.2-metre soldier was designed by the sculptor Alan Somerville, who is said to have left strict instructions with the Roads and Traffic Authority about how to maintain it.

Work began on Monday, and the project has required Mr Ejjamai and two others to carefully remove the wax coating with water and small-bristled brushes. The job has also required the statue to be heated with blow torches and a protective substance similar to beeswax to be applied.

Mr Ejjamai said working for hours on scaffolding with cars whizzing past metres away was just part of the job: "There is a lot of elbow work involved [but] I feel very honoured to be able to work on such an amazing piece, and being an Anzac soldier it's even more important."

The former Glebe Island Bridge was renamed the Anzac Bridge in 1998. The soldier's characteristics were compiled using four photographs of World War I diggers.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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