About the author  ⁄ Karl H. Frank, Ph.D., P.E.

Karl H. Frank is a Professor Emeritus at The University of Texas at Austin, the Chief Engineer at Hirschfeld Industries, Ret., and a Consultant.

The October 2020 STRUCTURE article, Coating Preparations Reduce the Strength of Bridges, presents information and opinions on potential problems with the fatigue resistance of steel bridges prepared for coatings using grit blast cleaning methods. Some of the information in this article is misleading with unsubstantiated claims regarding the safety of existing and future steel bridges. These topics are addressed below.

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