The initial cost of hot galvanizing is comparable to or even less expensive than normal paint protection cycles, although the latter cannot ensure the same level of corrosion resistance.
We save money and gain safety!
A comparison with traditional anti-corrosion treatments must take into account longevity and maintenance costs. Hot galvanizing will come out on top every time, because maintenance interventions are performed at intervals of decades and, since the deterioration of zinc surfaces is simple to predict and verify, their cost can be easily estimated even in hidden areas and in those that are difficult to inspect.
In normal painting treatments, in addition, the inner parts of many tubular frame structures are not protected at all; as a consequence, they may give rise to considerable safety hazards, as there is no way to visually verify or predict the degree of corrosion.
If you compare the average costs of a galvanizing treatment with those of a good, properly executed sand-blasting and painting treatment, you can see that the initial cost of the hot galvanizing treatment is analogous or even lower.
Costs of painting and galvanizing treatments
|
Material
|
Cost of
painting treatment
|
Cost of
galvanizing treatment
|
|
IPE 200 beam
|
230 €/ton
|
250 €/ton
|
|
80x80x8 angle iron
|
350 €/ton
|
320 €/ton
|
|
80x80x3 tubular frame
|
460 €/ton
|
390 €/ton
|
Regarding the maintenance costs, however, it should be noted that in painted products rust already appears after a few years; as a consequence the treatment must be carried out once and then repeated every 5/7 years, with considerably increased costs.
For the hot galvanizing treatment, instead, in most cases lasts for as long as 50 years after the installation and very often the re-galvanizing treatment will restore the original corrosion resistance of the zinc coating, allowing to repeat the process for an infinite number of times.
When this is not possible, we can intervene by painting the piece when it still has a minimal zinc coating and thus is yet to be attacked by rust; even the intervals between the subsequent treatments may then be longer.
All this exponentially increases the cost effectiveness of the hot galvanizing treatment.
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Hot galvanizing is an investment in our future, not an expense!
Traffic jams, delays, service disruptions... the costs resulting from blocked-off streets, bridges and railways or from plant stoppages and service interruptions caused by periodic maintenance operations are social as well as economic, and they affect every one of us.
Let's conserve our planet's resources!
Every year, millions of tons of fabricated steel articles are destroyed by rust. Hot galvanizing, which prevents them from having to be replaced, offers enormous possibilities for savings in terms of raw materials, energy and environmental resources.
