Page 30 - Corrosion Engineering Principles and Practice

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2. There were many opportunities for large savings through
more cost-effective uses of available technologies to reduce
corrosion.

The most recent study resulted from discussions between NACE
International representatives, members of the U.S. Congress, and the
Department of Transportation (DOT). An amendment for the cost of
corrosion was included in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1998. The
amendment requested that a study be conducted in conjunction with
an interdisciplinary team of experts from the fields of metallurgy,
chemistry, economics, and others, as appropriate.
Two different approaches were taken in the ensuing study to
estimate the cost of corrosion. The first approach followed a method
where the cost was determined by summing the costs for corrosion
control methods and contract services. The costs of materials were
obtained from various sources, such as the U.S. Department of
Commerce Census Bureau, existing industrial surveys, trade
organizations, industry groups, and individual companies. Data on
corrosion control services, such as engineering services, research and
testing, and education and training, were obtained primarily from
trade organizations, educational institutions, and individual experts.
These services included only contract services and not service
personnel within the owner/operator companies.
The second approach followed a method where the cost of
corrosion was first determined for specific industry sectors and then
extrapolated to calculate a national total corrosion cost. Data collection
for the sector-specific analyses differed significantly from sector to
sector, depending on the availability of data and the form in which
data were available. In order to determine the annual corrosion costs
for the reference year of 1998, data were obtained for various years in
the surrounding decade, but mainly for the years 1996 to 1999.
Indirect costs were defined in this study as costs incurred by
those other than just the owners or operators of a given plant,
structure, or system. Measuring and determining the value of indirect
costs are generally complex assessments; however, several methods,
such as risk-based analyses, are available to evaluate these costs.
Owners and operators may be forced to assume the corrosion costs
through taxing, penalties, litigations, or paying for clean up of spilled
product. In such cases, the costs become direct costs. However, there
are some indirect costs, such as traffic delays due to bridge repairs
and rehabilitation that are more difficult to turn over to the owner or
operator of a structure. These become indirect costs to a user but
may still have a significant impact on the overall economy due to
lost productivity.
The total cost due to the impact of corrosion for the indivi-
dual economic sectors was $137.9 billion per year (Table 1.2).
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