Case Study - San Francisco MUNI Bus Barn

"Gaco was the only system that passed the torture test designed by the City of San Francisco."

Problem: Specify a traffic deck coating tough enough to endure daily traffic from articulated buses and industrial forklifts.

Solution: Gaco Western GW-15-UBU Traffic Deck System.

In 1998, the city of San Francisco invited four coating manufacturers, including Gaco Western, to participate in a test of parking deck systems at MUNI Potrero Bus Maintenance Facility. The city was determined to find a traffic deck system that would stand up to extreme wear and tear from the city's fleet of articulated buses.

Each manufacturer would lay down a sample, installed according to submittal spec. Then, two wear tests would be conducted. First, an industrial forklift would be parked with its front wheels over the sample; the wheels would be turned to a hard right, followed by a hard left. Second, the same "chalk-to-chalk" test would be performed with a 20-ton articulated bus. The only requirement for passing the test was that the coating had to remain adhered to the substrate.

Gaco Western traffic deck specification, GW-15-UBU, was applied, including primer, urethane coating, walnut shell texture, and sealer.

Initially 3 rotations were performed. Two of the coating manufacturers were already out of the game-the coatings had torn away under the pressure and heat from the tire rotations. After 6 rotations, the third manufacturer was also eliminated, leaving only Gaco Western. Thirteen more rotations were performed-and only Gaco's system withstood the punishing test.

But, that's not quite the end...

After the reps left, the city decided to continue and set a benchmark. The testing continued through 25, 50 and finally 100 cycles. Only Gaco's GW-15-UBU system remained intact!

Naturally, Gaco Western was awarded the job, which was completed in the summer of 1999.

The reasons for the superior performance of Gaco's GW-15-UBU:

• High resistance to heat stress load
• Excellent adhesion due to sealer primer system
• Walnut shell aggregate instead of sand (sand is likely to kick out, then loose grit damages the coating; walnut shell wore evenly with the coating, and did not scuff out or damage the coating).

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