Cliff I like the idea of a low maintenance bridge and being able to whipper-snip around the base. I’ve been surprised how much the sun affected the woods shingles on my buildings.
As usual, you’ve taught me something new. I thought that a country that successfully replaced wooden studs with steel for house construction would at least be producing this steel under license. Apologies, Cliff! I should have used the correct term, weathering steel.
It turns out that weathering steel has been around since the 1930s and gained architectural popularity in the 1950s. COR-TEN is the trademarked name from U.S. Steel, derived from its two primary properties: corrosion resistance and tensile strength. While “COR-TEN” refers specifically to this U.S. Steel product, over time, the name has become synonymous with weathering steel in general. Other manufacturers have produced similar materials under different names, leading to the generic use of “Corten” (without the hyphen). This phenomenon is similar to how “Coke” in the Southern U.S. refers to any cola or soft drink, just as “Band-Aid” and “Kleenex” have become generic terms for adhesive bandages and tissues, respectively.
And yes, you are correct—we do import COR-TEN! Australia produces a version of corten known as REDCOR. I’m not sure what type of corten I have.
But I’d love those metal bridges.
The one thing from Arizona that we are very proud to own is Ayres Rock. Apparently digging it up caused a bit of erosion leaving Arizona with quite a grand canyon.
