Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is one of America’s oldest seaports. Since the 1600s the Baltimore Harbor has been welcoming people, ships and goods from all over the world. More than 13 million visitors made a trip to the harbor in 2003 alone. Throughout the downtown Baltimore area, series of pedestrian bridges and walkways connect buildings, streets and the harbor’s entertainment and shopping districts. Due to high traffic, harsh winters and the salt air, many of these walkways are falling into neglect and decay.

B & H Coatings, Inc., of Salisbury, Md., recently completed a restoration and protection project on one such pedestrian walkway that connects downtown with the Inner Harbor, crossing over the heavily trafficked harbor-front Pratt Street. The 2,400-square-foot bridge had never been coated since being built and was showing heavy signs of wear and decay from years of water intrusions and pedestrian use.

Surface preparations began with a thorough washing of CHLOR*RID to remove salts from years of deicing. Once cleaned, areas of damaged or missing concrete were identified, evaluated and repaired using VersaFlex Quickmender and silica fillers. Once the surface was properly prepared, a 40- millimeter layer of VersaFlex 75 polyurea caulk was applied using a low-pressure spray unit manufactured by Glas-Craft. Prior to the caulk setting, colored quartz was broadcast into the coating to add both traction and decorative value. Excess quartz was swept clean and a secondary layer was applied using 5-millimeters of VersaFlex Polyaspartic polyurea. Colored quartz was once again broadcast to the topcoat finish. Because of the large number of people utilizing the walkway, repair and coating was conducted over five evenings to help reduce upset and walkway downtime.

These restorative and decorative steps taken with this pedestrian bridge provided a large savings over rebuilding a new walkway. As other pedestrian pathways come in need of care, a model is now in place that illustrates affordable and quick alternatives to new construction. Using polyurea technologies enabled B & H Coatings, Inc., to provide a workable solution to the city of Baltimore and the next 13 million visitors.