United States Department of Transportation
i
Federal Highway Administration 100-Year Coating Study : [techbrief]
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2012-11-01
[PDF-112.63 KB]
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Abstract:The coatings industry switched from lead-based to zinc-based three-coat systems in the 1970s to protect steel bridges from corrosion after identification of health hazards associated with lead coatings.(1) Studies have shown that these three-coat systems with zinc-rich primer can have a service life up to 30 years, protecting steel from corrosion before a major touch-up is required.(2) Typical cost concerns with zinc-rich systems include the cost of removing mill scale before application of the coating system, the time and space required for shop application, and the logistics of moving heavy steel members to the field after shop application. A good alternative to addressing these cost issues is to extend the service life of the existing coating system on steel before any maintenance is required and/or replace the existing coating system.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 100-Year Coating Study is an in-house study initiated in August 2009 under the Congressionally mandated high-performance steel program. The objective of this study was to identify and evaluate coating materials that can provide 100 years of virtually maintenance-free service life for steel bridge structures at comparable costs to existing coatings. This TechBrief presents performance evaluation results and major findings for the eight selected coating systems based on experimental data from accelerated laboratory testing (ALT) and outdoor exposure testing.
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