Aberdulais Bridge
The structure had a 120-year design service life but required corrosion protection intervention to reach the remaining 75 years of the service life.
The Problem
The Aberdulais Bridge is owned by the South Wales Trunk Road Agency. Before embarking upon a concrete repair and protection initiative, the Agency worked with the consulting engineer Atkins to evaluate the structure and determined that the abutment walls, beams, and columns were showing early signs of corrosion to the reinforcing steel caused by the ingress of chloride ions from road salts.
Our Solution
Vector's local representative Sika provided Galvashield Fusion T2 two-stage anodes which were selected as the preferred corrosion mitigation option to provide 30 years of protection. During the initial stage, Galvashield Fusion T2 provides impressed current cathodic protection via an internal power supply to passivate active corrosion, then automatically switches to galvanic maintenance current.
The Result
The simplicity of installation and proven performance of the Fusion Technology were key to its use on this project. A total of 1,500 Galvashield Fusion T2 anodes were installed by Beton Bauen, a specialist contracting company based in Caerphilly, England. To ensure that the installed system was performing as designed, performance validation was completed by an independent qualified cathodic protection engineer
Technology Used
These innovative products and technologies were used on this project.