Cathodic protection of steel in concrete

Abstract

Cathodic protection of reinforced concrete has been developed by a combination of trial and error, fundamental research, applied research and transfer of technology from related fields. These developments have been underway for 35 years and have been progressed by civil engineers, concrete technologists, corrosion scientists and cathodic protection engineers. In the past 6 years in the U.K. the investment in repairs to reinforced concrete structures incorporating cathodic protection has grown from a minimal £100,000 p.a. to some £20 million p.a. This paper reviews the developments in cathodic protection of reinforced concrete during the last 35 years with particular emphasis on developments during the last decade. The critical areas of this multi-discipline technology in respect of system performance and future development are anode systems, anode overlays and assessment of cathodic protection performance. These critical areas are addressed in detail and some requirements for future work are highlighted.