LCC Evaluation Method regarding the Anticorrosion of Steel Bridge in a Highly Corrosive Environment

Abstract

Under-coat corrosion progresses very rapidly after the repainting of steel railway bridges that have been in use for long periods of time in highly corrosive environments. It is therefore important to use high-quality base conditioning methods. However, these methods can be very costly. Consequently, it is essential to establish not only a method for selecting steel bridges that require high quality repainting, but also to find repainting methods that factor in life-cycle costs (LCC evaluation method). This paper examines a method for selecting steel bridges for LCC evaluation, and then describes an LCC evaluation method that takes into account the cost of surface preparation. Based on a trial calculation of the LCC for models of steel bridges with typically found structures, an appropriate repainting method was proposed.