refinishing products, and we
believe their high quality com-
bined with our outstanding ser-
vice will deliver the best repair
satisfaction to our customers.”
“We are excited to expand our rela-
tionship with Service King,” said Nigel
Budden, vice president of Axalta’s North
America Region. “Our goal is to con-
tinue to provide superior products and
services, working together with our dis-
tribution partners and focusing on meet-
ing Service King’s needs.”
As Service King continues to expand
nationwide, it looks forward to benefiting
from the 145-year history of performance
and quality service demonstrated by
Axalta and its Spies Hecker finishing
paint products.
“Axalta’s rich history of success,
coupled with Spies Hecker’s high-quality
products, signals Service King’s bold move
towards setting the highest of standards
in the automotive industry,” said Jeff
Sherwin-Williams Supplying Protective Coatings For Massive Cleveland Innerbelt Bridge Project
Sherwin-Williams was chosen by Atlantic Painting to supply
high-performance protective coatings for the Ohio Department
of Transportation’s (ODOT) I- 90 Innerbelt Bridge project. Coating work is now underway on the 1.8 million square feet of steel,
which is comprised of the westbound span over the Cuyahoga
River. Reconstruction of the bridge, which opened to traffic in
1959 and is the main east-west artery into and through downtown Cleveland, is the largest project in ODOT’s history. The
new bridge, which is north of the existing span, will be 4,247 feet
long and stand 120 feet over the Cuyahoga River Valley at its
highest point.
To give the bridge a high-gloss finish and protect the structure from the harsh Cleveland elements, Sherwin-Williams will
supply Macropoxy 646, an epoxy intermediate coating, and HP
DOT Acrylic Polyurethane, a high-gloss top coat in off-white, for
the project. The company is also providing Zinc Clad IV organic
epoxy that will be used by Atlantic’s field painters to touch up
the shop-primed steel sections and splice plates. More than
26,000 gallons of coatings will be used for the project.
“ODOT needed high gloss, a low film build of 2-4 mils with
higher-build performance, superior weathering, and ease of application,” said Dee McNeill, regional market director, bridge
and highway, Sherwin-Williams Protective and Marine Coatings.
“These products will achieve all of those requirements. As a
company headquartered for nearly 150 years in Cleveland, it is
gratifying to be an asset protection partner on an infrastructure
project that is such a vital link to the city from points near and far.”
Although not all states require steel bridges to be coated,
ODOT does stipulate protecting its bridges in this manner. McNeill said bridges in Northeast Ohio must stand up to some of the
most rigorous inspections there are, given the constant expansion
and contraction caused by thermal cycling, and exposure to road
salt and airborne contaminants from Lake Erie winds.
The project design and product specifications address these
issues. Because of the level of degradation and corrosion that
can occur at structural joints, ODOT wanted to limit their number. The old bridge had joints at every one of the 14 piers, but in
the new design there are only two.
In addition, QUV accelerated weathering tests ( 5,000+ hours
of UV exposure is Ohio’s standard) and field experience docu-
ment the superior gloss retention of the Sherwin-Williams top
coat, which doubles the maintenance-to-recoat cycle, McNeill
said. “Our testing demonstrates gloss retention even after 9,000
hours of exposure. This considerably extends the lifecycle of
the coating and provides unprecedented value for the taxpay-
ers,” he noted, saying the bridge would likely only need to be
repainted two or three times during its design life of 75 years.
The project is unusual in several ways. ODOT used a value-
based design-build approach (vs. design-bid- build) for the
first time, to expedite the work and minimize disruption to
both local motorists and those traveling between Chicago and
the Northeast US.
In addition, the bridge’s architecture has distinctive delta-shaped girders that complement the Cuyahoga Valley topography without dominating it. The design teams that competed
for the work were evaluated on their ability to deliver on not just
cost and an ambitious schedule, but also on preserving the aesthetics that define this part of Cleveland’s landscape. The project was awarded to general contractor Walsh Construction in
partnership with HNTB Corporation, the lead architectural and
engineering design firm, and HDR, the independent quality engineering firm.
The Cleveland Innerbelt Bridge project facing north from the Tremont
section of Cleveland’s west side. The bridge, which opened in 1959, is
the main east-west artery into and through downtown. Coating work is
now underway on the 1.8 million square feet of steel that comprise the
westbound span over the Cuyahoga River.
