The performance of hot dip galvanizing in coastal environments continues to be questioned by some people in industry, including engineers, architects, specifiers and builders. Six years ago, a study was conducted along the South West coast of Victoria, Australia, as a direct response to some comments by corrosion professionals as to the poor performance of hot dip galvanized steel in coastal applications. This study returned to Victoria’s South West to review the performance of the hot dip galvanized steel along a stretch of approximately 400kms of the coastline.
The coating thickness of various hot dip galvanized steel articles was measured at each site, along with climatic conditions such as relative humidity. The results of this review of the performance of hot dip galvanizing along Australia’s south east coastline support that with proper design and consideration of the location’s corrosivity, hot dip galvanized steel structures can provide robust and maintenance free options for the prolonged protection of steel in coastal environments. Author: A Sheehan, Paper 047 in ‘Corrosion & Prevention 2013’, reproduced by kind permission of the Australasian Corrosion Association.
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