Rust-Proofing Steel

[Animal]

Zinc is the material of choice, hot dipped rather than a thing electric coat. Bitumen is quite good at excluding water. I don't know how well zinc paint works.

[Marland]

SS Great Britain is constructed out of Wrought Iron not steel. Wrought Iron doesn’t corrode in the same way as steel due to the low carbon content ,it isn’t however as strong hence Brunel had to use thickness for strength. Once steel became available in commercial quantities engineers soon used it for its better properties of strength and lightness which for most applications outweigh the corrosion issue.

GH

[The Natural Philosopher]

"Steel has a relatively very low percentage of carbon, which is

0.05-0.30% which makes it malleable and ductile. -An iron alloy with a very low carbon content, that is less than 0.08% is known as wrought iron. "

[Fredxx]

Still lasted 54 years before being closed to private motor vehicles. It's still functional.

I'm sure an RSJ will do fine encased in concrete underground, where even temperature cycling will be minimal.

[Colin Bignell]

More, I think, because he lacked the data to know how thin he could make it. A lot of his work was experimental. His locomotive designs, for example, were not a success.

[Marland]

Criticism of Brunel who has become almost a cult hero amongst the British public usually brings a degree of opprobrium on those who do so but his civil engineering legacy is I think stronger than his mechanical side,as you say his Locomotives were poor and he was fortunate to be joined by a skilled Locomotive engineer that sorted out the situation thus saving the reputation of the early GWR and Brunel. Still didn’t stop him going on to make mistakes like the atmospheric railway in Devon whose promise lead to a line being constructed with steep gradients that hampered conventional trains for the next century or more, his choice of gauge proved a dead end and his SS Great Eastern while a record breaker in terms of size proved to have too many flaws and like many projects today was late and over budget. He certainly had enough success to maintain his reputation but to do so needed one thing he was good at of persuading other people to part with their money to back his projects. The failures have become heroic as part of his reputation, those who were bankrupted and left destitute which was not a nice position in Victorian Britain to get him there have no such legacy.

GH

[rick]

Hot-dip galv is probably the best, you can get it done at any galvanisers

[Brian D]

Not many galvanisers left.

[rick]

I use either one in Bridgend or Cardiff, drop stuff off, pick up 3 days later, all priced by weight. The place is amazing ... you cant see there is such a mist of acid in the air - and huge vat of molten zinc - amazed H&S allow it.

[Theo]

Turns out there's a website for that:

A couple of them fairly local to me (~20 miles) should I ever feel the need...

Theo