Sherwin-Williams secures two AMPP Structure Awards for coating applications

Liberty Bridge, Pittsburgh

Honoring top coatings projects from the past year, the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) has awarded Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine and its project partners two 2020 Structure Awards.

The awards recognize top projects in seven categories representing an array of structures and service conditions.

A challenging, $82 million restoration of the Liberty Bridge in Pittsburgh earned the 2020 George Campbell Award for outstanding achievement in the completion of a difficult or complex coatings project. The award-winning team included bridge owner the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), industrial services provider Avalotis Corp., and engineering services firm HDR Associates. From June 2015 to September 2018, applicators from Avalotis blasted and recoated the bridge’s steel beams, trusses, braces, and other structural members with Zinc Clad III HS at 3 to 5 mils dry film thickness (DFT) to provide cathodic corrosion protection. They followed this with an intermediate coat of Macropoxy 646 Fast Cure and finished with a three-coat application using Acrolon 218 HS.

Recognizing outstanding industrial coatings work performed in a fixed shop facility, the 2020 Eric S. Kline Award went to the project team that coated approximately 21,000 tons of structural steel for the 5.5-acre retractable roof covering Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Structural steel fabricator W&W/AFCO Steel produced and coated this large amount of material at multiple shop locations over the course of about 18 months. Following surface preparation, applicators spray-applied a full coat of Zinc Clad 4100 at 3 to 5 mils DFT. For the topcoat, applicators used a high-build Envirolastic polyaspartic urethane sprayed at 5 to 7 mils DFT for long-term corrosion control and weatherability.