National Corrugate Steel Pipe Association Chart

To provide quick reference to coating selection on corrugated steel pipe, the National Corrugated Steel Pipe Association has produced the following chart. Contained in the chart is the anticipated service life of galvanized coatings based on soil pH and resistivity. This chart is applicable to all uses of hot-dip galvanized steel in soil and can be used as a guide to anticipate its service life in soil.

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Corrosion of Galvanized Steel Pipe in Contact with a Variety of Soils In the United States

  Weight loss (g/m2)a and maximum pit depth (mm) after burial for years stated
Soil Type Loss after 2.1 years Maximum pit depth Loss after 4.0 years Maximum pit depth Loss after 9.0 years Maximum pit depth Loss after 12.7 years Maximum pit depth
Inorganic oxidizing acid soils
Cecil clay loam 90 0.23 430 0.15 180 <0.15 180 <0.15
Hagerstown loam 90 <0.15 300 0.2 210 0.15 180 <0.15
Susquehanna clay 300 0.23 700 0.23 270 <0.15 240 <0.15
Inorganic oxidizing alkaline soils
Chino silt loam 330 <0.15 700 0.15 490 <0.15 330 <0.15
Mojave fine gravelly loam 480 0.15 1000 0.2 330 <0.15 330 <0.15
Inorganic reducing acid soils
Sharkey clay 180 0.15 460 0.3 210 <0.15 330 0.15
Acadia clay 1000 0.15     1460 0.2    
Inorganic reducing alkaline soils
Docas clay 980 0.2 490 0.23 490 0.25 490 <0.15
merced silt loam 640 0.2 130 0.3 30 0.15 400 0.2
Lake Charles clay 1130 0.13 1190 0.18 1680 0.33 4210 1.68
Organic reducing acid soils
Carlisle muck 360 0.2 1040 0.28 915 0.2 1040 <0.15
Tidal marsh 360 <0.15 640 0.25 610 0.2 1460 1.32
Muck 1310 0.33 1650 0.53 2750 1.63 3260 1.93
Rifle peat 1310 0.25 2200 0.3 5980 2.11 5950 2.23
Cinders
Cinders 2040 1.57 1650 1.14 1710 0.53 3630 1.22
aTo obtain weight loss in micrometers (mm), divide g/m2 by 7.2.
Source: Romanoff, M. Undergraound Corrosion. Government Printing Office, for National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC, Circular 579, 227 pp. (407 refs.). 1957.