Business Profile
remove the old oil-based paint coatings and to apply a modern paint system using experienced and qualified coating applicators. All of this quality application and material supply was covered by a 15 -year insurance backed guarantee, which was monitored during the repainting by the Steel Protection Consultancy (SPC). The coatings for this project were supplied by Leigh’s Paints (now Sherwin Williams) and the application was carried out by two painting contractors, Pyeroy on the south end of the bridge and Palmers on the north side.
The applicators were registered under
the ICATS qualification training scheme created by the Institute of Corrosion and administered by its subsidiary, Correx. This not only insists on using only registered contractors, but ensures that all applicators are fully trained, qualified and assessed under the ICATS Training and Certification scheme. Where important prerequisites such as these are not put in place on the repainting of structures, premature failures of coatings are likely to occur, or at the very least coatings are less likely to reach their projected lifetime to first maintenance, resulting in extremely costly early refurbishment. Whatever outcome ensues, all of these costs have to be passed on to the travelling public.
Getting it right first time
It is a big lesson in not cutting corners and getting it right first time. Appropriate care and attention to detail for rail industry painting contracts will prevent financial loss and mean a significant
saving to the travelling public. It was encouraging to know that
Network Rail has supported the Correx ICATS initiative, not only with technical input but also by substantial financial support. It is now mandatory that painting contractors are registered in this scheme and only use qualified operatives. Regrettably, this initiative has not been implemented on many of the contract sites and several important structures have been repainted with unqualified and inexperienced paint operatives. Together with using specifications put forward by a paint manufacturer (which are often not paint specifications but simply technical data sheets listing the way they think their products should be applied), this can be a false economy.
Instead, it is essential to have a full and detailed repainting specification covering all aspects of surface preparation, the coating types and all of the requirements for ensuring that the applied coatings are fit for purpose and will give the 25 year projected target life, which in my opinion should be the starting point for every repainting contract on each structure. This procedure was utilised fully a couple of years ago on the station extension at Kings Cross in London. Here, all of the steelwork is exposed to the public in the western concourse, a confident move by the rail engineers in specifying a brilliant white paint finish, as any brown rust staining that might occur would run down the steelwork and be immediately noticeable to the public. It was essential that the detailed specification, training and qualification of
the painting applicators was treated as of the utmost importance. Training given to the individual painters and site foremen required that every square metre of the paintwork was carried out to the highest possible standard.
This attention to detail, including care with even the smallest technical aspects of a project, should be addressed on every structure throughout the Network Rail system. After all, ignoring or missing even the tiniest detail can result in costly and embarrassing premature failures. Successful projects can be contrasted with their commitment to detail, technical care and knowledge.
There is another important factor in trying to deal with these premature failures. With so many parties involved in major projects, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the guilty parties in arriving at the cause or causes of these failures. In any event, these costs are ultimately passed on to the travelling public and the many businesses that use our railways at a time when any increase in costs are scrutinised. The tragedy is that these particular extra costs, therefore that portion of any annual ticket price increase, are avoidable.
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The author David H Deacon FTSC., FICorr., is the founder and director Steel Protection Consultancy (SPC). He is a past president of the Institute of Corrosion and was presented with a unique lifetime achievement award for his 40 plus years of service to that professional specialist body. Among scores of railway related contracts, SPC has been retained on the Forth Rail, St Pancras and Kings Cross projects.
www.steel-protection.co.uk
December 2013 Page 113
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