The Academy of Arts and Sciences is presenting Bernard (Bernie) Covino,Corrosion expert, in a presentation about our coastal bridges on Saturday, March 8, 6:30 PM at the Yachats Commons. The bridges (McCullough) along the Oregon coast are critical to our coast life style. The bridges provide us with deliveries and critical services. Without the bridges, a trip from Yachats to Newport may take two days with ferry rides across Alsea Bay and Yaquina Bay. Bernie Covino spent a career monitoring and developing methods of protecting our bridges from corrosion. Our constant salt air corrodes not only the steel reinforcement, but also eats away at the concrete. Corrosion is a natural process that causes $276 billion (3.1% of Gross Domestic Product, GDP) damage each year to the Nation’s infrastructure (buildings, autos, bridges, etc.). A focus will be made on bridges because they are a vital link in our highway system and should have a priority when infrastructure repairs are funded. The 590,000 bridges in the United States are of concern because 1 in 5 are over 50 years old, 1 in 4 are in need of repair. It is estimated that $140 billion is needed to bring current non-compliant bridges into compliance. This presentation will include a short primer on corrosion, a brief look at the cost of corrosion, a history of Oregon Coastal McCullough bridges, an examination of steel-reinforced concrete bridge corrosion issues and corrosion prevention strategies with reference to the coastal McCullough bridges. Time permitting, a brief discussion on Oregon atmospheric corrosion of metals and coatings will be presented. There is no admission charge for this presentation. A $5.00 donation is requested to cover publicity expenses. More information is available at GoYachats.com/events or by calling 541-961-6695.
