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Article: ELECTRICITY IS BEING TURNED AGAINST RUST ENGINEERS PLAN TO ZAP BRIDGE DECK WITH LOW, STEADY CURRENT TO HALT CORROSIVE PROCESS (AND POTHOLES)
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- October 17, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1988 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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On a bridge over Interstate 93 in Medford, state highway
engineers are trying something different in the never-ending
battle against rust and corrosion: They're turning electricity, the
very thing that causes rust, into a weapon against it, zapping the
bridge deck with a steady charge that stops the corrosive process
in its tracks.
Rust is one of the main causes of the potholes, cracks and
bumps that pepper bridge decks. Every time your car bounces across
a crater-riddled bridge, you are most likely feeling the effects of
rust first-hand.
As the reinforcing steel in the concrete bridge deck corrodes
-- a process hastened by the road salt used to melt snow and ice --
the volume of the ...