Corrosive brine, coal and drippings from freight cars passing over railroad bridges can cause serious maintenance problems if preventive engineering is not used. Metal deck plates on railroad bridges are buried beneath the ballast on which ties and rails are laid. Thus, the deck plates are almost inaccessible, making proper inspection and maintenance difficult.
Corrosive drippings from freight cars splash onto railroad ballasts, then seep through the ballast to the metal bridge deck. The resulting corrosive attack on floor members often is severe and rapid, requiring new plating to protect or replace badly corroded deck sections. Because the plates are buried beneath the ballast and rails, maintenance work on the plates requires the bridge to be out-of-service for long periods.
Corrosion resistant wrought iron is being used for deck plating to reduce severe corrosion of railroad bridges. An example is the deck section shown above. Fabricated with ½-inch wrought iron...
