Waterborne acrylic latex coatings for use in maintenance applications have been available for over thirty years. In the early 1980's, a second generation of waterborne acrylic resins was introduced which provided improved corrosion protection compared to earlier waterborne resins. An exposure history of up to fifteen years now exists for these waterborne maintenance paints, and includes field exposures on steel structures in a variety of challenging environmental conditions. Examples described in this paper include chemical storage tanks and structural steelwork in a number of industrial facilities around the world, highway bridges located throughout the southern United States, and a 125-year-old cast iron lighthouse located in the severe marine atmosphere of Hunting Island, South Carolina. In all cases, the one- and two-component waterborne acrylic coatings have provided many years of effective service against the elements and have afforded the steel structures with excellent protection from corrosion. New developments in one-component waterborne acrylic latex coatings which provide even better corrosion resistance are also described, and demonstrate the potential for the use of water-based systems in even more demanding situations.
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