摘要: |
Significant maintenance costs are extended nationwide each year for coating structural steel bridge elements in an effort to protect them from corrosion and deterioration. Coating of structural steel presents a significant, costly maintenance challenge that is critical to mitigating the detrimental effects of corrosion to extend the service life of bridges and reduce operational costs. The field performance of coating can be inconsistent, being affected by the quality and method of surface preparation, the environment surrounding the bridge, presence of chlorides and corrosion products (which may be entrapped between plates in built-up members or other details that cannot be cleaned), the type of coating utilized and other factors. The goal of this study is to identify the most cost effective coating for protecting structural steel from corrosion, with consideration of factors such as ease of installation, long-term performance and costs. |