Hi, Everyone,
My organization is looking for ways to protect isolated covered bridges (made entirely or mostly of wood) from fire. Most of these structures are many thousands of dollars away from a water system for sprinklers and are located a good distance from volunteer fire stations. In other words, it won't take long for an arsonist or a lightning strike to destroy one of our bridges.
We are looking at intumescent paint/coatings as a possible treatment for the bridges. What we have read so far is encouraging, but not necessarily written from a conservation professional's point of view. Is there anything out there written by conservators about intumescent coatings? Alternately, does anyone have opinions about using intumescent products on historic structures? We know that repeated applications of the coatings will be needed over the life of the structures, but are there other concerns about this treatment we should consider?
Thanks in advance for your consideration!
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Kim Dillon
Cultural Resource Support Section
Missouri State Parks
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