The Environmentally Responsible Choice
Silent Safety
Look both ways before crossing the street.” “Be sure to lock your doors when leaving your home.” “Don’t stick your finger in the light socket.” These directives are all examples of common safety measures we use in everyday life and likely take for granted. From a young age, safety is instilled in us; yet, there are still safety measures around us that we may not even be aware of.
According to the US Department of Transportation, there are over 250 million vehicles in the United States. Every day, these vehicles travel over roadways and bridges that contain structural components built in for the sole purpose of keeping us safe. Most of us never even consider how secure these bridges and passage ways keep us during our daily journeys.
Civil Engineers consider several factors when designing a bridge including design requirements/constraints, environmental factors, bridge life expectancy, materials, budget, etc. Did you know that many bridges across the United States use powder coatings to prevent corrosion and help keep us safe? There are over 80,000 bridges designed and constructed today that use powder coatings.
Pureflex FBE from IFS Coatings is a specially formulated powder coating for this type of application. It is designed to offer excellent corrosion resistance, flexibility, adhesion, film consistency, chemical resistance and durability for this rugged market application.
During bridge construction, reinforcing steel bars are placed in a grid-like design in areas where strength is required. Concrete is poured over the reinforcing steel bars, thus encasing the steel. The steel is an essential component of a bridge’s stability, as it prevents collapse under the weight of daily vehicle use.
The oldest bridges used uncoated reinforcing steel. As concrete cures, it is also shrinks in volume, which results in minor cracks in the concrete. During the 1950’s the US Department of Transportation determined that snow and ice removal from roads and bridges was a priority. To prevent the build-up of snow and ice, they began applying de-icing salts to the roadways and bridge decks. These chlorides began penetrating the cracks and attacking the steel bars beneath, forming corrosion. This corrosion greatly reduced the life of these bridges. Consequently, the Federal Highway Administration was tasked with finding ways to prevent corrosion. After testing a variety of options, fusion bonded epoxy powder coatings proved to be the most cost-effective and excellent corrosion-resistant product on the market.
In 1973 this new technology was put to the test. A bridge in West Conshohocken, PA was designed and used epoxy coated reinforcing steel. After 15 years, the results were so positive over 41 Departments of Transportation began to integrate this technology. Today, epoxy coated reinforcing steel is the most trusted and widely-used corrosion technology on the market. Approximately 700,000 tons of epoxy coated reinforcing steel is produced annually thus silently keeping us safe.