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Corrosion: Huge maintenance costs for Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge. See what happened!

metal corrosion

                                                                              (sursa: jsonline.com) 

 

On the evening of September 24, 2013, the emergency number 911 was called to inform authorities about the failure of a pillar of the bridge, which led to lowering one of segments. There were no fatalities, and the bridge was immediately closed.

 

Leo Frigo Bridge sees traffic volume of 40,000 vehicles daily and is a commercial connection between the Northeast part of Wisconsin and Michigan.

 

Year of construction: 1980

 

Problems caused by corrosion

 

The inappropriate construction materials used and aggressive factors of the environment lead to corrosion of the metal frame inside the concrete. The outcome of the investigation as the pillars were affected by corrosion.

 

Before repairing the bridge in November 2013,  two supporting pillars were constructed. Their purpose was to prevent sinking bridge. The project cost $ 1.6 million.

 

An important aspect. The last inspection was carried out in October 2012, it did not involve planning and analysis regarding the risk of corrosion. Therefore, we recommend periodic inspections to prevent corrosion and reduce maintenance costs. You can read the article on this topic by clicking here.

 

Costs of corrosion

 

The bridge was closed for repairs for three months half and costs were somewhere around 18-20 millions of dollars. Federation Highway Administration approved an emergency fund for these repairs.

 

The Impact of closing the bridge can be calculated in  a daily loss of 139,000 dollars (about 14.5 million).

 

If you are looking for a solution to prevent corrosion and to reduce maintenance costs, we provide the following contact details!


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Source: http://www.nace.org/Corrosion-Failure-Leo-Frigo-Memorial-Bridge-Failure.aspx