Waterjetting & Surface-Tolerant Coatings: UHP on the Luís I Bridge in Porto, Portugal

From JPCL, October 2018

By Joao Azevedo, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings

The iconic Luís I Bridge, constructed in 1886, spans the River Douro between the cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia in northern Portugal. In 2003, the bridge's upper deck was converted to carry the D Line of the Porto Metro light railway, necessitating an additional 22,000 square meters of extra structural steelwork requiring protection from corrosion. With the bridge protected since construction by a lead-based paint system, this article discusses the rationale behind employing ultra-high-pressure waterjetting and recoating the bridge with an ultra-high-solids, damp-surface-tolerant epoxy coating and reports on its success after 15 years in service....