Abstract

Over the past 25 – 30 years, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has replaced lead-based coatings on many bridges, often with zinc-based systems. But many of these coating systems are now degrading and reaching the ends of their service lives. Historically, KYTC has relied entirely on remove-and-replace painting, however, given the programmatic costs associated with remove-and-replace painting and constraints imposed by limited funding, the agency needs to explore more economical options, such as spot, zone, and overcoat painting. This report discusses use cases for spot, zone, and overcoat painting and lays out guidelines staff can use to determine what method of painting is the best fit based on a project context. It provides an in-depth discussion of issues that need to be addressed in special notes prepared for different types of painting operations and gives a step-by-step description of work completed during a painting project. Over the long-term, the Cabinet will benefit from establishing a more robust bridge painting program. For this type of program to function effectively, KYTC needs to maintain a complete, up-to-date inventory of bridges. Its staff must have expansive knowledge of funding sources that are available to pay for maintenance painting. Staff must also possess the requisite knowledge to conduct in-depth investigations of candidate projects, and understand how different features of project context may influence painting operations so they can determine the optimal maintenance procedure. Moving forward, the Cabinet should explore having in-house personnel execute spot painting and zone painting projects on bridges that do not have lead based coatings. The agency should also continue refining its guidelines and best practices for maintenance painting and develop special notes to guide the selection of surface preparation methods and bridge coatings.

Report Date

9-2024

Report Number

KTC-25-03

Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.13023/ktc.rr.2025.03

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