Inspired by the successful performance of austenitic stainless steel street furniture, the city council of Melbourne, Southeastern Australia, recently conducted a life-cycle costing analysis. The results show that stainless steel enables design flexibility and ensures low maintenance costs. "Using S30400 stainless steel instead of powder-coated steel significantly reduces ongoing maintenance costs," says Marika Mulqueen, one of Australia's most renowned industrial designers. "A comparison found that while stainless steel can initially cost more, but over a 20-year period, maintenance costs can be up to 50 percent less than those for steel protected by powder-coated paint. Maintenance involves a once-a-year pressure cleaning instead of regular repainting to repair scratched and peeling paint.
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