Bridging the gap to safer connections

Posted by on 24 May 2021

When it comes to bridge construction, safety is paramount.

In the 1950’s the federal highway departments began using salts on highways and bridges to keep them safe for motorists during the winter months.  While the salts were excellent at keeping roads free from snow and ice, these chlorides began to penetrate cracks in the concrete and attack the bare steel reinforcing bars, which in turn, began to prematurely corrode and lead to weakening of the structures. 

Soon, a solution was found by applying fusion bonded epoxy powder to the steel reinforcing bars prior to shipping them to jobsites.  IFS Pureflex FBE, an industry leading fusion bonded epoxy powder coating, delivers an excellent corrosion barrier to the chlorides and dramatically extends the life of these structures.

Here are some quick facts about the safety epoxy coated rebar provides:

According to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association one in three bridges – that’s 220,000 of the 618,000 bridges in the U.S. - need repaired. Yet at our current repair rate it will take 40 years to complete of the work and roughly $41.8 billion to achieve.

 Wow.

 However Ultra-High Performance Concrete Solutions estimates 174 million cars travel over deficient bridges daily and at the end of the day, safety has got to be the number one priority.

 Let’s dig in a little.

There are four bridge rating categories:

1. Preservation and Maintenance: 7-9 rating
2. Maintenance: 5-6 rating
3. Rehabilitation: 4
4. Replace/rebuild: 0-3

According to Boatman, B. in Epoxy Coating Rebar Bridge Decks: Expected Service Life; Michigan DOT, MI 2010” the service life of black bar (which is uncoated carbon steel) bridge decks is on average, 35 years before reaching a 4 rating. Conversely the service life of epoxy coated bar bridge decks is around 70 years before it reaches a 4 rating.

That’s quite the improvement.

Epoxy coated bridges, on average, reach a 6 rating in 25 years and a 5 rating in 47 years. Black bar bridges, on average, reach a 6 rating in only 15 years and a 5 rating in around 24 years.

The FBE coating creates a barrier between the chlorides (deicing salts) and steel.  Without this barrier a cathodic cell is quickly created and begins the process of corrosion and degradation/weakening of the steel.

The 1st epoxy coated bridge was built in 1973 in Conshohocken, PA, and today, there are over 70,000 bridges that have used epoxy coated bars to extend the service life of bridges in high corrosion environments across the United States.  IFS Pureflex FBE has been developed to achieve the highest ratings in corrosion ASTM testing and at the time of writing has DOT approvals from 43 US states with more to come!

Talk to us about your Fusion Bonded Epoxy functional powder needs.