About the author  ⁄ Robert J. Connor, Ph.D., P.E.

Robert J. Connor is the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering and the Director of the Center for Aging Infrastructure and S-BRITE Center at Purdue University.

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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