Bridge gets cathodic corrosion protection

摘要

On a crisp wintry morning, Runcom's Silver Jubilee Bridge is doing its best impression of its bigger, brasher, more famous Australian cousin. Like the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Runcom's Grade II-listed structure is a steel arch bridge - albeit with a smaller 330 m main span and crossing the Manchester Ship Canal and River Mersey to Widnes rather than a 503 m span across one of the world's more stunning natural harbours. Like the Sydney bridge, the Runcorn-Widnes crossing is carrying far more traffic than it was originally designed to take and was. Unlike the Aussie bridge though, it boasts a reinforced concrete deck - and one that has a significant corrosion problem in its reinforcing steel.