Sustainable Steel Bridge Maintenance

The Role of Paint in a Life-Cycle Assessment

From JPCL, August 2017

By The CEPE Protective Coatings Sector Technical Committee

Coating manufacturers have long contended that the extended maintenance intervals made possible by the use of high-performance, highly durable coating systems, far outweigh their initial contribution to the eco-footprint of a structure when the benefit that accrues from the use of coatings is taken into account over the whole of its life. The authors discuss a study to test this contention, quantifying the effect of coating systems of varying durability (and hence varying maintenance requirements) on the environmental impact of a steel bridge over the course of its functional life....