ARCAT

TEX•COTE® Coating to Protect Record-Setting North Florida Bridge





Hathaway Bridge – Panama City Beach, Florida.

(PANAMA CITY, Fla.) – For sheer visual impact, the new Hathaway Bridge linking Panama City with Panama City Beach will have few rivals anywhere. Not only will it be the widest and the longest segmental concrete bridge in North America – and possibly in the world – it also will provide a stunning vista of gray and blue as its graceful arches soar above the waters of North Bay.

To preserve these rich accent colors as well as the overall integrity of the bridge surface itself, engineers will be using a truly one-of-a-kind preservative coating – a material that is used on monumental structures around the world, yet is manufactured just a few miles away in Panama City. The bridge surface will be finished with TEX•COTE® XL-70® BRIDGE COTE®, a remarkable concrete and masonry protective coating that is manufactured and distributed by Textured Coatings of America Inc. The acrylic co polymer resin creates a weatherproof coating that can be applied over cured or uncured concrete surfaces in a single coat, to provide decades of protection against the elements.

“We’re especially pleased to be involved in the construction of the Hathaway Bridge because it is a very dynamic and exciting project, both for Bay County and for TEX•COTE®,” said Jay Haines, TCA’s president and chief executive officer. “It’s by far the largest construction in Bay County’s history, but it’s also one of the most significant new bridges in the United States.”
Spanning the North Bay between Panama City and Panama City Beach, the new Hathaway Bridge will actually be two structures, side by side, each composed of seven 330-foot spans. Each of the twin 80-foot wide segmental concrete box girder bridges will accommodate three lanes of traffic, plus a breakdown lane and pedestrian/bicycle lane. Altogether, the supporting structure and arches will present more than 1 million square feet of surface area, all of which will be covered by XL-70® BRIDGE COTE®.

“We’re especially pleased because the Hathaway Bridge project enables us to achieve some important new ‘firsts,'” Haines added. For example, the company is adding special IR heat reflective pigments to the blue accent colors on the recessed arches on the bridge’s supporting girders.

“These heat reflective pigments prevent the color from fading, because the sun’s UV radiation is diffused when it strikes the surface,” Haines explained. “This is the first time we’ve put IR heat reflective pigments on a bridge, and we’re very pleased to have such a high-visibility showcase for this capability.”

Haines noted that the new bridge, which will replace an outdated structure that can no longer handle the traffic demands, was recently named one of the Top 10 Bridges in America by Roads & Bridges magazine. In fact, he added, seven of the magazine’s top 10 U.S. bridges are protected by TEX•COTE® coatings. Having one of these structures located just a few miles from the company’s headquarters is an added benefit.

“Since it is right in our back yard, this will be an ideal test facility for our engineers to take periodic observations of the coating’s performance in the sunshine, humidity and salt air,” he said.

J. Mori Construction of Fort Lauderdale, a leading TEX•COTE® contractor, is scheduled to begin applying the XL-70® coating to the parapet walls of the first bridge structure soon. The remaining structures will be coated in a series of steps over many months.
The XL-70® coating – a specially formulated high-build, plasticized, vinyl toluene acrylic resin – was specified for a number of reasons, Haines said. One of the chief benefits is that it can be applied in one coat, with no primer, over damp or uncured concrete and still retain its film and performance integrity. This saves both time and construction cost, since many competing products require laborious sandblasting to prepare the surface before application. It also provides a significant reduction in labor costs since it can be applied in one coat instead of three or more coats of traditional paint, while also providing a much thicker coating (17 mils rather than 6 mils for standard paint). It also provides guaranteed long-term performance, and is ideal for use on poured, tilt or precast concrete.

“Because of these features, 30 states and the Federal Highway Administration have named TEX•COTE® the ‘Product of Choice’ on all new and restorative concrete projects,” Haines noted.

Founded in 1961 in Los Angeles, Textured Coatings of America is the largest textured coatings manufacturer in the world and has been a pioneer in the development of the exterior finishes that help meet the challenges of today’s architecture. TCA now has manufacturing in both California and Florida as well as licensed manufacturing around the world. Distribution points are located throughout the United States, Canada and 22 other countries throughout the world.

For more information, contact Dick Barnes at 800-454-0340

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