In 2011, the Tippecanoe County Highway Department began looking for a product to help preserve its concrete bridges. Located in the freeze/thaw zone of the U.S., Indiana's winter-month temperatures can fluctuate daily above and below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. If rain falls during the warmer part of the day, it gets absorbed into the concrete. Yet as he water freezes in the pores overnight, it expands about 9 percent and begins to product pressure in the concrete. Once the pressure exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete, it will cause expansion, cracking and crumbling of the concrete over many freeze/thaw cycles.

In addition, as bridges tend to freeze before roadways, an abundance of deicing chemicals are used to melt slippery surfaces. The caustic nature of deicing chemicals can unfortunately create concrete scaling, which further accelerates surface deterioration.

After using a coating product for a few years, the Tippecanoe County Highway Department (TCHD) researched alternatives that would last longer. It began to incorporate the penetrating Trojan Masonry & Concrete Sealer into the department's Bridge Deck Sealing Program in the summer of 2014 and has thus far sealed 51 concrete bridges with an additional 20 bridges planned for 2017.

"We were looking for a nontoxic sealer that would not impact our rivers, be easily applied by our own personnel and last longer than other products," shares Howard Berninger, project supervisor for TCHD. "We are very happy we made the switch."