A new initiative for the AGA Marketing Department this year is to develop Digital Case Studies of older galvanized steel projects.  We started with the top four projects submitted to this year’s Excellence in Hot-Dip Galvanizing Awards Lifetime Achievement category. The intention of these Galvanized Steel Studies videos is to show how the galvanized steel has performed over the lifetime of each project. One to two people involved with each project were interviewed and spoke about the galvanized steel’s performance, as well as why it was chosen and how it has affected their view towards galvanizing other steel projects.

The reason Lifetime Achievement projects were selected, rather than new projects, is because one of the primary benefits of hot-dip galvanizing is longevity. Though longevity may be noted as a reason for specifying hot-dip galvanizing at the outset of the project, seeing its progression through the years carries much more weight.  The Lifetime Achievement Award was developed to honor projects in service for at least 15 years and demonstrates hot-dip galvanized steel’s durability. Because the submissions for this award have additional requirements above and beyond the newly completed projects, such as coating thickness measurements and discussions with original specifiers or current owners of the project, adding the Galvanized Steel Studies made sense. 

Over the last 6 weeks, Laura Hanson and Melissa Lindsley traveled to all four locations of the top Lifetime Achievement submissions to film and interview those involved with each project. The first project visited was the Walter Pyramid at Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California, which was galvanized in 1994. Cameron Ungar, Associate General Manager and Director of Event Services, was able to provide some background on the Pyramid and what it is currently used for. He also spoke about the maintenance (or lack there-of) of the galvanized steel. Mark Zakhour, Manager of Construction Services for CSU-Long Beach, provided more information regarding the performance of the steel, and why galvanizing was chosen as the corrosion protection method for the structure.

Next up was a quick trip to Fort Worth, Texas to visit The Texas Motor Speedway. Randy Wray, Senior Project Manager for Southern Bleacher Company, and Mat Stolley, VP of Operations and Development for the Speedway both told the history of the Speedway which was galvanized in 1995. The benefits of utilizing hot-dip galvanized steel on a speedway include little to no maintenance and corrosion protection in a harsh environment. Some footage from this speedway was shot from a car speeding around the track, so keep an eye out for the action!

The Daytona Motor Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida was galvanized in 1985. Andrew Booth, Senior Manager of Public Relations for the Speedway discussed the new expansion project, Daytona Rising, as well as the background of the speedway. Jim Bannon, Project Director for International Speedway Corporation explained why galvanizing was chosen as the corrosion protection system for the Speedway. “Galvanizing is a perfect solution for a structural steel frame that is exposed to the elements, and it’s a very economical solution [as well],” said Bannon.

The last project filmed was the Market Place Center at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. The Market Place Center was galvanized and painted with a duplex coating in 1985. Michael Murphy of the Clarendon Group provided background on the structure and spoke to the success the duplex system has provided towards corrosion prevention. Murphy noted, “In order to prevent corrosion, it was a wise idea to go with a galvanizing process for the exposed steel.  Over the years I have been involved with this property, I have become a big proponent of galvanizing.”

All four of these projects are great examples of the longevity and durability of galvanized steel in various settings. Being able to visually showcase these projects in videos featured on the AGA YouTube channel and various areas of galvanizeit.org is an added benefit to creating these case studies. The Marketing Department is excited to debut these new videos during the Excellence Awards presentation at the Annual Conference and looks forward to creating more Galvanized Steel Studies in the future.