Page 3 - Corrosion & Harsh Environment Protection

Corrosion & Harsh Environment Protection 3
Corrosion Is Eating Away
at Your Bottom Line
The direct effects of corrosion costs U.S. industry and government $276 billion annually,
according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).* This
figure reflects only the direct costs of corrosion, such as the expense of repairing a bridge
that has become structurally deficient due to steel corrosion or the cost of treated drinking
water lost from a corrosion-induced leak in a municipal water pipeline. It doesn’t begin to take
into account the indirect costs of corrosion, such as the cost of labor related to corrosion-
management activities or the loss of revenue due to disruption in product supply. The FHWA
study conservatively estimated this as equal to the direct costs.
Corrosion is a natural, inevitable process. It cannot be eliminated, but it can be managed
and controlled. The FHWA study estimates that the implementation of optimum corrosion
management practices could save as much as 25–30% of annual cost of corrosion in the U.S.
Annual Corrosion Costs
* The “Corrosion Costs and Preventive Strategies in the United States” study (Publication No. FHWA-RD-01-156),
released in 2002, was commissioned and funded by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (DOT), Y. Paul Virmani,
project manager; conducted by Gerhardus H. Koch, Michiel P.H. Brongers and Neil G. Thompson of CC Technologies
Laboratories, Inc., of Dublin, Ohio, in association with J.H. Payer, Ph.D. of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland,
Ohio; and sponsored by NACE International of Houston, Texas.
Extrapolated Corrosion Cost:
$276 Billion, 3.1% of GDP
State and Local
Government, 3.0%
$8.3 Billion
Services,
5.2%
$14.3 Billion
Federal
Government, 7.3%
$20.1 Billion
Transportation and
Utilities, 34.9%
$96.2 Billion
Construction,
18.1%
$50.0 Billion
Manufacturing,
31.5%
$86.8 Billion
Electrical
Utilities
$6.9 billion
Mining
$0.1 billion
Food
Processing
$2.1 billion
Pulp and Paper
Processing
$6.0 billion
Drinking Water and
Wastewater Systems
$36.0 billion
Highways and Bridges
$8.3 billion
Gas and Liquid
Transmission Pipelines
$7.0 billion
Oil and Gas Exploration
and Production
$1.4 billion
Petroleum Refining
$3.7 billion