Cottesloe’s offshore pylon has worn the colours of competing surf clubs. The town’s 2019 conservation plan records the local club’s traditional yellow, black and white—and rivals repainting the tower at night for bragging rights. The plan credits those repeated coats with helping to slow the concrete’s deterioration. [1]
Painted stripes were not the purpose John Foreman, Cottesloe’s town clerk and engineer, had proposed in 1934. The pylon was to anchor netting for a protected swimming enclosure. It was finished by 1 April 1936, but a storm on 29 May dislodged another pylon and damaged the works before the enclosure was completed. Foreman suggested waiting to see what winter storms would do to the survivor. [2]
Where is this place?
Cottesloe Beach Pylon. This map locates the town or region, not a verified exact historic event site.
The tower that remained was repeatedly repaired. Its upper section broke off in 1995 and a new mast was fitted in 1996. [2] Another storm toppled the mast in May 2009, prompting reconstruction. In January 2019, work on the lower structure encased the old base in reinforced concrete up to just above the waterline. [1]
That year, materials engineers from MeND examined the upper section. They found several paint layers on the mast. Although the coating was not an engineered system suited to marine concrete, they judged that it still offered some protection against moisture and chlorides. The paint could not bridge cracks, however. Near the mast, cracks ran through the coated upper concrete. The engineers also recorded exposed reinforcement and rust staining on the western side. More coats of club colours had not sealed those openings. [1]