Sisters Beach Bolts

Thanks for the update Ben.  I was climbing there recently and had no idea about this risk (although I did wonder why one of the U's wasn't there!).  

The fact that one of these has "fallen out" points to an extremely hazardous situation.  

This also highlights the importance of notching and good installation technique with glue-in anchors.  

Haha, that's pretty funny Gerry!!

John, there are some local guys who are keen to get this place fixed up.  I expect it will be completed sometime over summer, I've offered to help but I am working full-time in Hobart at the moment so not really possible.   Since we placed the warning on thesarvo the local crew have stayed clear of leading the sport routes here.  In light of your testing and considering its getting into the summer season with travelers arriving we might be best to place some red-tags on the first bolts. 

Replacing them should be relatively easy - I expect most will crowbar out and the holes can be re-used minimizing any further visual impact.  There are a bunch of old rusty ones that it would be good to remove as well.

It really is a great crag that means a lot to North West climbers - this is where I started sportclimbing back in the day.  It's still one of the best steep crags in Tassie and deserves a lot better care than it has received. 

If notching the u bolts I think its best to use a grinding wheel over a cut off wheel.  The notches from a cut off wheel are way to thin.  
Notching the u bolt for 50mm of each stem is about right and on both sides (every 8 to 10mm). 
Use a new grinding wheel for this and not one that you have been grinding steel with.
That way you will help to prevent steel impregnation from the grinding stone to st st.  The u bolts need to be 316 and not 304 as its near the seaside.
Also clean the stems if they have any oil or residue on them.
I think sika 31/41 is the best, hilti is also good.

Some more thoughts on this:

John is correct that this is a lethal time-bomb.  Could someone visiting, or living near it, at least put up a warning sign at both access points?  

Initially my thinking was that it would be best to pull out whatever was removable by whatever means available (funkness-device, leaver, some other sort of puller?), ID-tag them, re-drill the holes, grind the U's, then glue them back into the ID'ed holes.  This is appealing because the U's are good in a coastal environment.  However, since it is unlikely that all U's will be removable on all climbs, a process like this will result in a situation where the old and new glue-ins will be indistinguishable.  This would make ongoing maintenance and safety assessment impossible.  Consequently I think that any replacement of these U's should be via expansion bolts: in other words, absolutely no new U's at this crag.  

This cock-up is the proof (that we didn't need!) that glue-ins require operator skill.  If anyone wants advice, or a tutorial, on this subject I am happy to give it face-to-face.  I am sure other experienced gluers will be too - just ask - we're all motivated to see good practice with fixed anchors.  

Having successfully removed U-bolts my suggestion would be:

Bring grinder, monkey wrench and vice grips along with the usual bolting kit. Cut the apex of the curve so you now have two 'J' pieces in the rock. Twist and pull, will probably surprise you how easily they'll come out after lots of turning. 

Once removed install new U-bolt utilising one of the previous holes if possible. In theory you might be able to reuse both but i think one extra hole per bolt and the effort it saves is the way to do it.

As for glue, if you find the Sika method tedious, use a hilti product (HIT500R i think?). I can probably sort out a gun for you to borrow, PM me.

With regards to what Roger said.
Personally id replace them with new u bolts.  It might be hard to distinguish but if every new u bolt was painted say dark green (or what ever colour you want) then this would be way better.
If you paint u bolts remember to only paint them on the section that is not imbedded into the rock.  Use a high quality spray paint with a etch primer first (made by wattle or dulux).  Test results show that this paint will last for many years.
 

If we also wanted to, we could draw up a quick spread sheet and tick the routes off as we replace them with new bolts.

 Uncomfortably... I float an idea of a CCT bolting workshop to increase the broader consciousness of these things.  Could be as simple as how to safely install ubolts or could go  as far as discussing expansion bolts and replacing anchors,carrots. Perhaps going as far even as  conceiving new lines sensibly, appropriate stance/ spacing,and of course contextual environmental, political and heritage considerations. blah blah.

Hi guys,  thanks to everyone for posting all the tech tips.  I've arranged for one of my local mates to tag all the first bolts so for now at least people will have an appropriate warning to keep clear.  Looking forward to getting it done over summer.  Hopefully some of those who have contributed to this thread might be up that way too and could help out?  

Malcolm Matheson HB nearly died in the Gorge when he weighted an unglued bolt..a U Bolt installer drilled holes, put the bolt in, then left it un-glued and untagged, planning to come back at a later stage and glue it. My point is that as Roger says, installing these bolts requires operator skill..maybe there are time bombs all over the state. Putting in home made bolts is too much margin for error (Ive never heard of washing oil from 316 stainless), plus there is the retard factor of the dickwit who didn't glue his bolts in the gorge. So unless its sandstone, I'd go for expansion bolts..almost any dickwit can install these.

expansion bolts generally are more user friendly.  but again if you over tighten them they are time bombs.  unless you know how much pressure is required a torque wrench should really be used.  sounds crazy, but its easy to break an expansion bolt with a 12" shifter.  

Also expansion bolts can be tampered with.

Anyone have a clear idea of the relative corrosion resistance of 316 expansion bolts versus 316 U bolts, given Sisters Beach is maritime? Expansion bolts are in theory more susceptible to crevice corrosion?

Hi All,

Has anything been done about these bolts? John and I visited the area in January and noticed the tape (we only top roped from  natural protection in the end). 

I'm keen to learn about the process and would like to help if there are knowledgeable people  to lead the way.

Is it just a matter of deciding which type of bolt?