A ballot item to publish joint collaboration document S8.3, Hot-Dip Galvanizing Specification, from American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) has recently passed the NSBA Task Group 8 on Coatings, NSBA Main Committee, and AASHTO T14 committee on Structural Steel Design. The document has now gone to main AASHTO where it is expected to be rubber stamped at the June ballot deadline. This timeline likely means publication late in 2022.

AGA and several of our members were involved in the development of this standard over several years which primarily affects the bridge/highway industry. Included verbiage addresses DOT concerns regarding reactive steels, flaking, faying surfaces, and other quality concerns that result in elevated requirements for bridge projects. However, a large portion of the specification is comprised of non-mandatory commentary regarding design and fabrication best practices to improve HDG quality and appearance for bridges.

In the meantime, AGA will publish a side-by-side comparison of the S8.3 specification vs. ASTM A123 to highlight the differences.

For previous updates on the development of this specification:

• 2021-August NSBA Task Group 8 - Hot Dip Galvanizing Guide Specification
• 2021-April New Draft AASHTO/NSBA TG8 Standard on Hot-Dip Galvanizing
• 2020-August TG8 Task Group on Bridge Details for Hot-Dip Galvanizing
• 2020-April TG8 Galvanizing Guide Specification Update
• 2019-May AASHTO/NSBA TG8 Standard on Hot-Dip Galvanizing
• 2019-March AASHTO/NSBA TG8 Standard on Hot-Dip Galvanizing