Our conversations with customers usually come around to the fact that contractors, farmers and other end users feel more confident using EstateWIRE because it lasts so long. So we thought we would explain why EstateWIRE is guaranteed to last longer than any other heavily galvanised wire made to BS EN 10244-2 Class A.
Firstly, that ‘BS EN 10244-2 Class A’ bit. It’s the British and European Standard to which wire for agricultural and estate uses is manufactured. As ArcelorMittal is the world’s largest steel producer it manufactures high grade steel wire to world-beating standards, so we start off with a base product that surpasses our rivals. Then we make it better.
ArcelorMittal manufactures all of its agricultural fencing products from 2Life® wire – but the real science behind the longevity and reliability of 2Life® is in the alloy coating which mixes zinc and aluminium, an alloy that gives double protection.
Zinc is an active, sacrificial and traditional anticorrosive coating while the aluminium provides passive protection. The aluminium slows down the sacrificial reaction of the zinc coating and increases the effective lifespan of the coating.
Under laboratory controlled Kersternich test conditions, after 20 cycles in a sulphuric atmosphere, heavily galvanised wire loses 96% of its original coating thickness with only 10g remaining compared to only 23% loss for 2Life® wire and 100g of coating still remaining – scientific proof that 2Life® lasts at least two times longer than heavily galvanised wire to BS EN10244-2 Class A.
Obviously, this special alloy is far superior to the zinc only coating of traditional heavily galvanised products, delivering:
For more demanding environmental conditions (e.g coastal), we make 4Life® fencing products. This has a greater zinc and aluminium coating weight to last at least four times as long as heavily galvanised wire to BS EN10244-2 Class A.
