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LeJeune Bolt Company DACROMET COATED A490 BOLTS
Burnsville, MN – ASTM A490 Structural Bolts have historically been limited to plain finish due to the
potential for hydrogen embrittlement during coating using industry standard processes, namely zinc
coating mechanically deposited per ASTM B695 and/or Hot Dip per
ASTM A153. In 2008, ASTM approved the use of zinc/aluminum
protective coatings per ASTM F1136 for use on A490 structural bolts.
The most common of these coatings is sold under the trade name
Dacromet®, produced by Metal Coatings International and applied by
certified applicators. This coating will revolutionize the market for A490
bolts and provide for a much needed high strength structural fastener
with a protective finish.
While ASTM tested and approved the coating, many issues remained for its practical use in the
marketplace. Questions relating to Dacromet® grade and sealer combination and their relation to
desired k‐factor, nut overtap and rotational capacity testing viability have gone essentially unanswered.
Until now.
Two recent projects specifying Dacromet® coated A490’s
were awarded to LeJeune Bolt Company.
SelfAnchored Suspension Span The first major project awarded was the SAS Span for the
(SAS) San FranciscoOakland Bay new San Francisco‐Oakland Bay Bridge. This project was the
Bridge
first, and certainly the largest, to specify A490 bolts with
Oakland, California Dacromet® coating. Nearly two years of research, product
development, testing, and production has given LeJeune
American BridgeFluor JV
unparalleled experience that only a project of this magnitude
can offer. The bridge designer specified A490M (metric)
bolts with Dacromet®. The metric A490 is not normally used
in the United States so there was no available stock. Further,
there was no tooling or raw material at the manufacturing
level to produce these bolts. Finally, this quantity of
structural grade fasteners had never been processed through
any of the licensed Dacromet® applicators. That’s where we
came in. LeJeune was the catalyst, bringing together leading
manufacturers in the fastener industry to ask and answer the
many questions needed to supply the contractor with
reliable, consistent fasteners. Through our extensive research and development stages, we identified
the optimum combination of coating grade, sealer, and nut overtap that provided the most consistent k‐
factor. Our study showed that using Dacromet® 320 grade 3 with Plus Sealer on the bolt and Dacromet®
320 grade 5 with Plus Sealer on the nut with an overtap of .018 and Dacromet® 320 grade 3 Plus Sealer
on the washer provided consistent k‐factor results in the optimal range. For the Dacromet® application,
For more information contact us at sales@lejeunebolt.com
www.lejeunebolt.com I 3500 West Highway 13, Burnsville, MN 55337 I 800.872.2658
LeJeune Bolt Company DACROMET COATED A490 BOLTS
we chose the rack spray process for the bolts and the dip spin method for the nuts and washers. This
combination of processes provided for the most favorable combination of coating quality and
consistency while adhering to the budget. LeJeune Bolt Company worked with ABF‐JV to evaluate and
write rotational capacity parameters that did not exist for the A490M bolt with Dacromet®. These test
procedures have been implemented and are currently in use on this project. Finally, we employed four
manufacturing sources and two Dacromet® applicators to produce the finished material. We started
with an extensive audit and qualification process for each manufacturer. Once these audits were
approved by the contractor, we moved on to tooling design and manufacturing. Once tooling was in
place and raw material procured, manufacturing began in earnest to meet the rigorous critical path
deadlines. Material was received and processed according to our ISO based quality program.
Rotational Capacity Testing was performed in our lab and the material was certified. A CALTRANS
certified inspector was called in to sample material to be sent to the METS Lab for another round of
testing and approval. Once this was complete, CALTRANS
dispatched their inspector to our facility to tag and certify
the approved material for release. LeJeune then packaged
material according to the project release schedule and Iron Ore Concentrator Buildings
shipped to the final destinations; shop bolts to the
Venezuela
fabrication facility located in Shanghai, China and field bolts
to the Oakland, California jobsite. What does two years of Duro Felguera Plantas Indusriales
research, development, testing, production, and inspection
under the rigorous scrutiny of American Bridge‐Flour JV and
CALTRANS for the largest construction project in California
history mean…EVERYTHING!
For Duro Felguera, We took what we learned from our two
years of preparation on the SAS Bay Bridge Project and
delivered to them technical data and research unavailable
anywhere else in the industry. The contractor consulted with
us extensively throughout the bid stage. While we couldn’t
always tell them what they wanted to hear, we always told
them what they needed to hear. Well, they chose LeJeune. We were not the cheapest, or the closest to
a coastal port city. What we were was the most informed of the bunch and we were willing to share our
information…before we won the contract. Our philosophy of providing value to the industry, no matter
the outcome, served us well on this project. Let us do the same for you on your next project.
For more information contact us at sales@lejeunebolt.com
www.lejeunebolt.com I 3500 West Highway 13, Burnsville, MN 55337 I 800.872.2658