Accelerated Field Corrosion Assessment of Barge-Bridge Materials in Atmospheric and Full Immersion Conditions

Abstract There are often situations in which modular infrastructure must be deployed in response to some disaster or tactical military need. Recently, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse and the Gaza floating pier construction, both in the Spring of 2024, come to mind. The United States Department of Defense is investigating the merits of implementing certain types of modular bridge designs for use in real service environments. The bridge can be built “dry” to span features on the land or “wet” to span bodies of water. The structural bridge material can potentially be exposed to a range of climates (temperate, tropical, desert, artic, etc.) and in the case of “wet” installation, the floating support barges can be exposed to a range of natural waters (fresh, brackish, salt, riverine, bay, lake, etc.). Ambient and accelerated corrosion testing of various barge-bridge components was conducted to estimate the performance and corrosion response of the system in a variety of conditions. Atmospheric and marine corrosion testing was conducted at the Naval Research Laboratory facility in Key West. Previous comparative studies will enable the results obtained at Key West to be extended to a variety of other exposure sites around the world.