When thousands of miles of freeways, roadways and sidewalks need to be de-iced and/or grip enhanced every year for several months a year the key metric is of course cost. Low-cost products like road salt, sand and grit. Low-cost application with dispersers mounted on existing snow clearing vehicles. Even the storage of the salts and abrasives calls for very low-cost solutions, precipitation cover is critical to prevent freezing, clogging or premature chemical reactions, but cost is critical.

The corrosion challenges to a low-cost solution are the very same beneficial qualities those products have, abrasive and chemical action. Loading and unloading impacts, wear erosion and chemical attacks on structures make short work of previous solutions like wooden or steel structures.

Enter a dual material solution, both protected with the amazing value equation of hot-dip galvanized steel. First are sturdy concrete floors and walls strengthened and protected with HDG rebar. Exceptional long-life zinc on the bars protects the structural integrity of the concrete under these physically and chemically challenging applications. The great killer of concrete structures is rebar corrosion, and this problem is self-accelerating as steel oxides at sixteen times less density causing a domino effect of spaulding and cracking exposing even more bar to corrosion.

Secondly, in the upper areas that are not subject to loading-unloading impact a light steel dome structure provides ultra low-cost precipitation prevention. Of course, the steel dome structure would soon succumb to corrosion from the highly corrosive chemicals stored under them. Hot-dip again provides the solution with unbeatable durability both in terms of service life and erection damage resistance.

While simple and basic, this project really highlights the amazing value of light and strong steel in partnership with hot-dip galvanizing and sturdy concrete. It plays to the strengths of each and delivers an incredibly cost-effective solution in this application.