Resumen
Many industries all over the world have special, sector-specific requirements concerning anti-corrosion protection. This contributes to large savings in corrosion-related costs, which account for about 6% of the Gross Domestic Product in developed countries. In 1999, the General Directorate for Public Roads published, for the first time in Poland, its requirements concerning the application and acceptance of anti-corrosion coatings for steel components of road and bridge structures. They were updated in 2006. In 2010, the military department of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways issued anti-corrosion instructions applicable to assemblable bridge structures stored as part of the military mobilization reserves of the State. The General Directorate decided to publish them due to the openwork design of these structures and the unusual conditions of their use and storage. In 2013, the Road Management Authorities in Warsaw commissioned a catalogue of anti-corrosion technologies for structures made of thin-walled sections or sheet metal with a thickness of up to 3 mm. In particular, the catalogue focuses on highly durable anti-corrosion coatings for metal constructions of noise barriers. All these documents have been developed by the Road and Bridge Research Institute. As set out in the first two of these documents, the maximum duration of anti-corrosion protection is 15 years, in conformity with ISO 12944. The last document provides for anti-corrosion coatings with durability of over 25 years. It also pays more attention to aesthetic qualities of anti-corrosion coatings, whose colour may not change in a noticeable way during the first 10 years of their use (?E <2, while the reduction of gloss may not exceed 20%). The new coating materials are based on resins that have never been used before, such as polysiloxane resins, polyfluorinated resins, polyurea resins, new fillers and pigments. Modern, eco-friendly powder coatings (including paints with the zinc fillers) are also being used on an ever-increasing scale, especially for outdoor applications of high durability. Other new generation products include conversion coatings, which improve the adhesion and durability of systems, as well as nano-ceramic coatings, self assembling molecules, baths based on transitional metal compounds with complex-forming properties such as titanium and zirconium (also with polymers), etc. Application of these materials makes it necessary to use more and more sophisticated inspection methods and devices. This creates new requirements for professionals, from the designer and the investor to contractors and inspectors, who all need to be well aware of corrosion-related issues. The analysis of these documents focus on the development of anti-corrosion materials and anti-corrosion protection technologies. Any documents of this type must be constantly revised to keep an owner up to date with modern solutions.