Umwickeln mit Butylkautschukbändern - ein innovativer Korrosionsschutz für vollverschlossene Brückenseile

Wrapping with butylcaoutchouc tapes - an innovative corrosion protection for locked coil ropes of bridges.

According to the codes of the German Ministry of Traffic, the surface of new locked coil ropes of bridges - and of existing ropes - has to be protected against corrosion by an about 400 µm thick layer of paint. For the preparation of the rope surface and for the application of the paint layers with a brush, access has to be granted over the entire length of the ropes by fixed or movable scaffoldings. In existing bridges, this may lead to considerable traffic jams.
The requirements for the pretreatment of rope surface may be considerably reduced, if the ropes are wrapped with tapes of butylcaoutchouc which are well-known from the corrosion protection of pipelines. These tapes can be applied by automotive wrapping robots, so that the impact on the traffic may be reduced to a minimum.
General considerations on this innovative and economic corrosion protection are presented, and its successful application for the pedestrian and bicycle bridge across the Rhine Kehl-Straßbourg and the road bridge across the Köhlbrand in Hamburg is described.