Paint four tanks for the cost of one

Carboline’s Dwayne Lum tells the story of the development of modern tank overcoat systems It seems to be a universal law of nature; maintenance painting budgets are the first cut when profits fall and the last reinstated when profits rise. Operators and supporting coating manufacturers, contractors, and other service providers continually face the challenge of protecting assets as economically as possible. This is especially true for the large and often very visible above-ground storage tanks. The most promising coating technology for cost-effective, environmentally friendly maintenance tank overcoating systems is not new. Nor was it developed for storage tank painting. Low molecular weight epoxies were designed for and initially used extensively in the bridge painting market. Their purpose was to mitigate the issue of lead-based paint, specifically lead-based paint on steel bridges in need of recoating. The first steel bridge, the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River at St Louis, was completed in 1874. Steel bridge construction accelerated through the remainder of the 19th century and into the 20th century, peaking during the US interstate construction period from the...