Polyurea Spray

Author: Pearl Sims

  • Why More Municipalities Are Spraying Their Own Infrastructure with Polyurea

    Why More Municipalities Are Spraying Their Own Infrastructure with Polyurea

    Across the country, municipalities are rethinking how they maintain aging infrastructure. Tight budgets, workforce shortages, and increasingly frequent maintenance demands have led many cities and counties to bring key tasks in-house. One growing trend: spraying polyurea on municipal infrastructure themselves—without outsourcing the job to third-party contractors.

    This shift toward self-performance isn’t just about saving money. It’s also about control, longevity, and response time. With polyurea coating technology, cities can repair manholes, wastewater systems, tanks, and treatment plants faster and with fewer resources—while extending the life of these assets by decades.

    Many local governments now train their teams and invest in mobile polyurea spray rigs, reducing their reliance on contracted services. According to recent industry reports, what was once considered a highly specialized task is quickly becoming a core municipal skill.

    Municipalities Taking the Spray Gun into Their Own Hands

    Why now? It starts with numbers. Aging wastewater infrastructure costs cities billions each year. Polyurea, known for its fast cure time, corrosion resistance, and seamless application, is a game-changer in these high-wear environments. The challenge used to be accessing the knowledge and tools to apply it correctly—but that’s no longer the case.

    Municipalities now have access to comprehensive training programs, affordable spray equipment, and a growing body of public sector case studies. For example, coatings.academy offers insights into how municipalities spray their own infrastructure projects, with step-by-step guidance for getting started.

    In fact, the shift has become widespread enough that industry experts are calling it a structural transformation in how cities manage their underground assets. A recent piece from Polyurea Nation highlights the rise of municipalities taking infrastructure maintenance in-house with polyurea spray rigs, citing cost savings, flexibility, and improved repair times as primary motivators.

    Manhole Rehabilitation: A Key Entry Point

    Manholes are often the first place municipalities start. These high-traffic, high-corrosion environments fail quickly if left unprotected. Traditionally, cities outsourced manhole rehabilitation to industrial contractors—but not anymore.

    Today, many municipalities are applying manhole coatings in-house using their own crews and mobile rigs. Polyurea’s ability to form a seamless, impermeable barrier in minutes means cities can knock out multiple rehabs in a single day without disrupting surface traffic or sewer flow.

    Polyurea Reviews recently explored whether municipalities should perform polyurea manhole rehabilitation themselves, concluding that with the right training and equipment, the answer is a confident yes.

    The Broader Impact on Wastewater Systems

    This isn’t just about manholes. Spraying polyurea also helps protect digesters, clarifiers, lift stations, and entire municipal wastewater treatment systems. As these systems age, the need for durable coatings becomes more urgent—and the case for doing the work internally grows stronger.

    By managing these applications in-house, municipalities reduce downtime, avoid procurement delays, and gain valuable technical knowledge about their systems. That institutional knowledge becomes part of the city’s long-term resilience strategy.

    For a deeper look into how polyurea benefits municipal water treatment systems, view this full digital carousel, which outlines the lifecycle advantages, material performance, and real-world use cases.

    Training and Opportunity

    As this trend grows, more cities are investing in training programs and equipment bundles that make the transition easier. Organizations like ArmorThane have built support systems specifically for municipalities looking to spray in-house.

    American Polyurea recently reported on several successful pilot programs where small towns trained local crews, applied their first coatings, and saw immediate savings—both in dollars and in asset performance.

    A Long-Term Shift Toward Self-Reliance

    The momentum behind polyurea self-performance signals a broader shift in how municipalities view infrastructure maintenance. Instead of deferring repairs or relying on outside vendors, cities are owning the process—both figuratively and literally.

    As equipment becomes more user-friendly and training more accessible, polyurea spraying will likely become a standard part of public works departments everywhere. What started as a niche technology now represents a smart, scalable, and sustainable approach to protecting vital infrastructure for the long haul.

  • Why Polyurea Is Taking Center Stage in the 2025 Bridge Infrastructure Boom

    Why Polyurea Is Taking Center Stage in the 2025 Bridge Infrastructure Boom

    As federal funds continue to flow from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, states across the U.S. are racing to update aging bridges. Many of these structures, some built more than 50 years ago, now face mounting stress from increased traffic, climate-related damage, and years of deferred maintenance. While steel and concrete still form the backbone of bridge construction, polyurea coatings have rapidly emerged as a quiet but essential player in keeping these vital structures safe and functional.

    In early March 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced an additional $5.5 billion in grants aimed at revitalizing key infrastructure—much of it earmarked for bridges at risk of structural deterioration. This funding follows alarming reports from the Federal Highway Administration showing that over 42,000 U.S. bridges are currently rated in poor condition.

    Enter polyurea.

    Polyurea, a spray-applied protective coating, has become the material of choice for engineers and contractors involved in fast-track rehab projects. Polyurea is known for its exceptional tensile strength, flexibility, and waterproofing properties. It creates seamless membranes that prevent water ingress, corrosion, and chemical degradation—three of the most common causes of bridge deck failure.

    One of the biggest advantages? Speed. Polyurea coatings can be applied and cured within minutes, allowing construction crews to complete rehab work overnight and reopen bridges the next day. This rapid return-to-service timeline has become a decisive factor in project planning in busy metro areas like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta—where even minor closures can trigger hours-long traffic jams.

    Just last month, crews in New Jersey applied polyurea to the Pulaski Skyway’s support structures during an overnight shift. According to project leads, the material’s fast cure time allowed them to meet DOT safety requirements without extended lane closures or costly traffic rerouting.

    It’s not just speed and waterproofing that make polyurea attractive. The material can withstand both freeze-thaw cycles and extreme summer heat without cracking or peeling, making it ideal for regions that experience wide temperature swings. This year’s wild weather patterns—from January blizzards in the Midwest to unexpected spring heat waves in the Northeast—have tested the limits of older epoxy-based coatings, which often degrade more quickly than polyurea under such conditions.

    Contractors are also applying polyurea in less obvious but equally important parts of bridge systems: expansion joints, piers, and even the undersides of decks that are vulnerable to salt spray and chemical exposure. In some coastal projects, polyurea is paired with corrosion-resistant primers to create multilayered defense systems that last well over a decade without reapplication.

    Though polyurea may still sound like a niche solution to the public, the coating has gained wide respect among civil engineers and DOT officials. The National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) estimates that corrosion costs the U.S. economy over $137 billion annually in infrastructure-related damage—a figure that continues to rise with each passing year of deferred maintenance. Coatings that mitigate this kind of damage aren’t just cost-effective—they’re essential.

    The growing role of polyurea in this year’s bridge initiatives highlights a broader trend: infrastructure modernization depends as much on innovative materials as it does on new construction. While steel and concrete get most of the attention, it’s the invisible protective layers—like polyurea—that help these materials last longer, perform better, and protect the lives of millions of daily commuters.

    As spring 2025 construction season ramps up, expect to hear more about polyurea in places you may not see—but definitely rely on.

  • The Evolution of Protective Coating Polymers: From Early Barriers to Polyurea Advancements

    The Evolution of Protective Coating Polymers: From Early Barriers to Polyurea Advancements

    Protective coatings have been used for centuries by people. The early civilizations applied natural substances such as wax, tar and plant resins to shield wood, stone and metal from the elements. These materials helped, but they did not last. They were not very durable and broke down with water, heat and physical wear. Protection became needed as industries increased.

    The First Advances in Synthetic Coatings


    The industrial revolution transformed materials. Engineering stepped in to build with steel and concrete, not wood and stone, for buildings, bridges and machinery. It was needed to prevent rust, corrosion and decay. Oil-based paints and varnishes were initially used, but they soon wore off. The new coatings they needed to bond to and last longer than traditional coatings were explored.

    The discovery of synthetic polymers at the beginning of the 20th century brought about a new generation of protective coatings. Bakelite, the first true plastic, had shown that engineering chemistry could create materials that were stronger than those from nature. Chemists soon developed epoxy and polyurethane coatings. They were better than traditional coatings at resisting chemicals and abrasion. They applied it to increase the service life and decrease the need for maintenance in factories, pipelines and military equipment.

    Polyurethane emerged as the choice for industrial coatings in the mid-20th century. It formed strong and flexible films that stuck well to metal, concrete and wood. It also did not peel off easily due to water and ultraviolet light, as opposed to oil-based paints. It lasted long enough to be good for bridges, ships and storage tanks. But it had to be mixed correctly and it took a long time to cure.

    The Introduction of Polyurea


    Polyurea was invented in the 1980s to change protective coatings. Isocyanates are known to react with amine resins to produce a material that can cure in seconds. Polyurea did not need a catalyst to harden unlike epoxy and polyurethane. It stuck and formed a single layer that was water tight, impact resistant and a wide range of temperatures.

    This is because polyurea can be applied very quickly and used for large infrastructure projects. It could be coated in a matter of hours, not days, for pipeline, containment tanks and bridge decks. It flexed to accommodate structure and prevented cracks and failures. It was different from traditional coatings in that it stuck to wet surfaces, which came in handy in environments that were prone to moisture.

    The military identified the potential of polyurea very fast. It was found that it could be used to reinforce buildings against blasts and to protect vehicles against corrosion. It starts to use in high security facilities, military bases and naval ships by governments.

    Research is still ongoing to improve on polyurea and other protective coatings. Chemists are still working on the development of hybrid formulations that can enhance the adhesion, chemical resistance and product life. Some coatings now have ceramic enhancers to increase the hardness. Some use nanotechnology to enhance the molecular bonding. These developments are expected to enhance the protection of coated surfaces and minimize on the need for maintenance.

    Protection is also a concern with regard to sustainable protective coatings. Manufacturers are developing bio-based and low VOC systems. Advances in spray technology enable the application of thinner, more economical coatings with reduced material usage. New smart coatings that transform their properties with temperature or exposure to chemicals may also improve performance.

    Polyurea is still at the forefront of coating technology. Its speed, strength and adaptability make it the go-to solution for protection from long-term exposure requirements across many industries. Protecting against wear, weather and damage will become increasingly important as technology improves.