The world’s longest covered bridge, the Hartland Covered Bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada, is now smoother and safer, with an epoxy polymer overlay from Unitex. The wood deck of the 107-year-old, 1,282-foot bridge should now last for decades.
The Unitex Pro-Poxy Type III D.O.T. epoxy polymer overlay is traditionally used on concrete surfaces, but has proven successful on wood bridges as well. The epoxy is also used on parking structures, pedestrian bridges and more.
The Hartland Bridge has been undergoing the most extensive rehabilitation in its long history, which includes the deck repairs.

The first stage of the deck repairs was completed in June. Remaining deck repairs are set for September.

The crews used a unique approach. For the first application, they added extra aggregate into epoxy. This thick mixture kept the epoxy from leaking through the timbers. On later applications, they first spread the epoxy onto the deck and then spread the aggregate by hand into the wet epoxy. This approach, as opposed to blowing the aggregate onto the surface, kept the aggregate away from the St. John River, immediately below.

The epoxy overlay was applied in the morning and allowed to cure overnight. The covered bridge kept the surface area cool, which provided for longer working times. The crew was even able to work on rainy days.
The Unitex epoxy polymer overlay application is lighter, more flexible, and more weather and corrosion-resistant than resurfacing with concrete or asphalt. Compared to using concrete for repairing bridge surfaces, the Unitex epoxy overlay reduces weight added to the structure by more than 50 percent. It also provides better skid-resistance.

To see a brief video on how Unitex Type III D.O.T. was used in another project, go here.