(lively music) (logo whooshing)
- [Narrator] Sealers and coatings are used
by the Texas Department of Transportation
to keep water out of pavement cracks,
thereby preserving and extending the life
of highways and roads.
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute,
working with TxDOT, performed extensive evaluations
of these concrete coatings applied to bridges statewide.
Seeing what methods work in different weather conditions,
the research is geared towards developing recommendations
for the best type of coating in our unique Texas climates.
- This research is focused
on the how to protect concrete structures,
in particular, how to protect concrete structures
using either a coating or a sealer.
- See, extending the bridge substructure
is a very, you know, important part
of the bridge preservation,
and the common practice using effective sealer
and coating materials.
But the problem is that no quantitative research
has been done, especially in Texas,
to determine the effectiveness of sealer
and coating materials to protect the bridge substructure,
and also to know the impact of surface preparation.
- [Kevin] Across our network of districts with, you know,
25 districts in the state, the vast majority of the people
that work in those districts
do not like bare concrete structures.
So when you drive around the state, you'll see our concrete
is painted, especially on our high level interchanges,
you know, things that really stand out.
But as long as that coating is in effect,
is that coating helping keep that structure protected
from salts basically?
Salts wanna work their way into the concrete, plus moisture,
and once the salts and moisture reach the reinforcement
of the concrete, now you have corrosion,
which is how well is our durability mechanisms
protecting our reinforced concrete structures
from chloride-induced corrosion distress?
So we wanna give you the best coating options related
to long-term durability of the concrete structure.
- We selected a commonly used sealer and coating materials
after the thorough evaluation.
We created a concrete substructure,
a typical concrete substructure,
concrete as a substrate in the lab.
We applied the different products according
to the product data sheet.
And then we did a thorough performance evaluation
using the key standard test.
Of course, we selected the test based on back and through,
I mean, back and forth discussions with TxDOT.
So we selected that.
We also selected some advanced techniques
to measure directly the corrosion.
After that, we did some selective field validation.
Same tests were conducted in the field,
and we established a lab versus field comparison.
This combined approach of lab and field together
help us to develop the protocol.
- And I believe that with the proper use of concrete,
the proper use of sealers, which can be another product
that you continually apply, those materials in themselves
are gonna actually add to the already good component
of concrete, which is durability.
We're adding more durability on top
of what we were starting with, this good quality concrete.
So yes, we're in this for the long haul.
I believe the research we continue to push through
is producing results that are gonna end in structures,
you know, being here a 100, 150 years from now.
- [Narrator] For more information
and to find the publication for this project,
please visit the TxDot Research Library
at the link shown below.